LIBRARY 


LIVES  OF  AMERICAN  WORTHIES. 

Under  the  above  title,  Messrs.  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
are  contributing  one  more  biographical  series  to  the 
number  with  which  the  reading  world  is  being  so  abund- 
antly favored. 

That  there  may  be  something  in  the  method  of  this 
series  not  altogether  indentical  with  that  of  its  numerous 
predecessors,  contemporaries  and  promised  successors, 
will  perhaps  be  suspected  from  the  list  of  subjects  and 
authors  thus  far  selected  : 

CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS,    (1440-1506), 

By  W.  L.  Alden.   {^of  the  New    York    Times), 
Author  of"  The   Moral  Pirates."  etc. 
CAPTAIN    JOHN    SMITH,    (1579-1631), 

By  Charles   Dudley  Warner,   Author  of 
''  My  Summer  iti  a  Garden,"  etc. 
WILLIAM    PENN,     (1644-17 15), 

By  Robert  J.  Burdette,  of  the  BurVwgton 
Haivkeye. 
BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN,    1706-1790), 

By 
GEORGE    WASHINGTON,    (1732-1799), 

By  John    Habberton,  Author   of   "  Heleii  s 
Babies  "  etc. 

THOMAS   JEFFERSON,    (1743-1826), 

By 
ANDREW    JACKSON,    (1767-1845), 

By  George  T.  Lanigan,  Author  of  "  Fables 
out  of  the  World." 
If  the  names  of  the  authors  awaken  a  suspicion 
that  there  may  be  something  humorous  in  the  books,  it 
should  be  known  that  despite  anything  of  that  kind,  the 
truth  of  history  is  adhered  to  with  most  uncompromising 
rigidity — perhaps,  in  some  cases,  a  little  too  uncom- 
promising, or  compromising  :  that  depends  on  the  point 
of  view. 

Recent  announcements  make  it  proper  to  state  that 
this  series  was  begun  several  years  before  the  date  of 
this  prospectus,  and  that  the  first  volume  published — 
Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner's  Life  of  Captain  John 
Smith,  was  in  type  in  the  Spring  of  the  current  year. 

New  York,  October,  1S81. 


LIVES    OF  AMERICAN  iVORTHIES 


Captain  John  Smith 


(1579-1631) 


SOMETIME   GOVERNOR   OF  VIRGINIA,  AND 
ADMIRAL   OF  NEW  ENGLAND 


.r> 


■"^ 


A  STUDY   OF 


HIS    LIFE    AND    WRITINGS 


BY 


CHARLES  DUDLEY  WARNER 


NEW   YORK 

HENRY     HOLT     AND     COMPANY 

1881 


r    {<■  '    f  <■  f  <  f  r    r     ,<r    c       , 


Copyrighted,  i88i, 

BY 

HENRY    HOLT  &  CO. 


Electrotypcd  and  Printed  by 

S.  W.GREEN'S  SON, 
74  and  76   Bcekman  Street, 

NEW   YOBK. 


PREFACE. 


When  I  consented  to  prepare  this  volume  for  a 
series,  which  should  deal  with  the  notables  of 
American  history  with  some  familiarity  and  disre- 
gard of  historic  gravity,  I  did  not  anticipate  the  se- 
riousness of  the  task.  But  investigation  of  the  sub- 
ject showed  me  that  while  Capt.  John  Smith  would 
lend  himself  easily  enough  to  a  purely  facetious 
treatment,  there  were  historic  problems  worthy  of 
a  different  handling,  and  that  if  the  life  of  Smith 
was  to  be  written,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  state 
the  truth,  and  to  disentangle  the  career  of  the  ad- 
venturer from  the  fables  and  misrepresentations 
that  have  clustered  about  it. 

The  extant  biographies  of  Smith,  and  the  portions 
of  the  history  of  Virginia  that  relate  to  him,  all  fol- 
low his  own  narrative,  and  accept  his  estimate  of 
himself,  and  are  little  more  than  paraphrases  of  his 
story  as  told  by  himself.  But  within  the  last 
twenty  years  some  new  contemporary  evidence  has 
come  to  light,  and  special  scholars  have  expended 
much  critical  research  upon  different  portions  of 
his  career.  The  result  of  this  modern  investigation 
has  been  to  discredit  much  of  the  romance  gathered 
about  Smith  and  Pocahontas,  and  a  good  deal  to 
reduce  his  heroic  proportions.  A  vague  report  of 
these  scholarly  studies  has  gone  abroad,  but  no  ef- 
fort has  been  made  to  tell  the  real  story  of  Smith 

9^090/1 


IV  PREFACE. 

as  a  connected  whole  in  the  light  of  the  new  re- 
searches. 

This  volume  is  an  effort  to  put  in  popular  form 
the  truth  about  Smith's  adventures,  and  to  estimate 
his  exploits  and  character.  For  this  purpose  I  have 
depended  almost  entirely  upon  original  contempo- 
rary material,  illumined  as  it  now  is  by  the  labors 
of  special  editors.  I  believe  that  I  have  read  every- 
thing that  is  attributed  to  his  pen,  and  have  com- 
pared his  own  accounts  with  other  contemporary 
narratives,  and  I  think  I  have  omitted  the  perusal 
of  little  that  could  throw  any  light  upon  his  life  or 
character.  For  the  early  part  of  his  career — before 
he  came  to  Virginia — there  is  absolutely  no  author- 
ity except  Smith  himself;  but  when  he  emerges 
from  romance  into  history,  he  can  be  followed  and 
checked  by  contemporary  evidence.  If  he  was  al- 
ways and  uniformly  untrustworthy  it  would  be  less 
perplexing  to  follow  him,  but  his  liability  to  tell  the 
truth  when  vanity  or  prejudice  does  not  interfere  is 
annoying  to  the  careful  student. 

As  far  as  possible  I  have  endeavored  to  let  the 
actors  in  these  pages  tell  their  own  story,  and  I 
have  quoted  freely  from  Capt.  Smith  himself,  be- 
cause it  is  as  a  writer  that  he  is  to  be  judged 
no  less  than  as  an  actor.  His  development  of 
the  Pocahontas  legend  has  been  carefully  traced, 
and  all  the  known  facts  about  that  Indian — or 
Indese,  as  some  of  the  old  chroniclers  call  the 
female  North  Americans — have  been  consecutively 
set  forth  in  separate  chapters.  The  book  is  not  a 
history  of  early  Virginia,  nor  of  the  times  of  Smith, 
but  merely  a  study  of  his  life  and  writings.  If  my 
estimate  of  the  character  of  Smith  is  not  that  which 
his  biographers  have  entertained,  and  differs  from 


PREFACE.  V 

his  own  candid  opinion,  I  can  only  plead  that  con- 
temporary evidence  and  a  collation  of  his  own 
stories  show  that  he  was  mistaken.  I  am  not 
aware  that  there  has  been  before  any  systematic 
effort  to  collate  his  different  accounts  of  his  ex- 
ploits. If  he  had  ever  undertaken  the  task  he 
might  have  disturbed  that  serene  opinion  of  him- 
self which  marks  him  as  a  man  who  realized  his 
own  ideals. 

The  works  used  in  this  study  are,  first,  the  writ- 
ings of  Smith,  which  are  as  follows: — 
(^"A  True  Relation,"  etc.,  London,  1608. 

"A  Map  of  Virginia,  Description  and  Appendix," 
Oxford,  1612. 

''A  Description  of  New  England,"  etc.,  London, 
1616. 

"  New  England's  Trials,"  etc.,  London,  1620. 
Second  edition,  enlarged,  1622. 

"The  Generall  Historic,"  etc.,  London,  1624. 
Reissued,  with  date  of  title-page  altered,  in  1626, 
1627,  and  twice  in  1632. 

"  An  Accidence:  or,  The  Pathway  to  Experience," 
etc.,  London,  1626. 

"A  Sea  Grammar,"  etc.,  London,  1627.  Also 
editions  in  1653  and  1699. 

"The  True  Travels,"  etc.,  London,  1630. 

"  Advertisements  for  the  Unexperienced  Planters 
of  New  England,"  etc.,  London,  1631. 

Other  authorities  are: 

"  The  Historic  of  Travaile  into  Virginia,"  etc.,  by 
William  Strachey,  Secretary  of  the  colony  1609  to 
16 1 2.  First  printed  for  the  Hakluyt  Society,  Lon- 
don, 1849. 

"  Newport's  Relatyon,"  1607.  Am.  Ant.  Soc, 
vol.  4. 


VI  PREFACE. 

"Wingfield's  Discourse,"  etc.,  1607.  Am.  Ant. 
Soc,  vol.  4. 

*' Purchas  his  Pilgrimage,"  London,  1613. 

"  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,"  London,  1625-6. 

"  Ralph  Hamor's  True  Discourse,"  etc.,  London, 
1615. 

"Relation  of  Virginia,"  by  Henry  Spelman,  1609. 
First  printed  by  J.  F.  Hunnewell,  London,  1872. 

"  History  of  the  Virginia  Company  in  London," 
by  Edward  D.  Neill,  Albany,  1869. 

"William  Stith's  History  of  Virginia,"  1753,  has 
been  consulted  for  the  charters  and  letters-patent. 
The  Pocahontas  discussion  has  been  followed  in 
many  magazine  papers.  I  am  greatly  indebted  to 
the  scholarly  labors  of  Charles  Deane,  LL.D.,  the  ac- 
complished editor  of  the  "  True  Relation,"  and  other 
Virginia  monographs.  I  wish  also  to  acknowledge 
the  courtesy  of  the  librarians  of  the  Astor,  the 
Lenox,  the  New  York  Historical,  Yale,  and  Cornell 
libraries,  and  of  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  the  cus- 
todian of  the  Brinley  collection,  and  the  kindness 
of  Mr.  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  of  New  York,  who  is  ever 
ready  to  give  students  access  to  his  rich  "  Ameri- 
cana." c.  D.  w. 

Hartford^  June,  1881. 


,'>    >     ' 


CHAPTER  r    "   '', 


BIRTH  AND  TRA'INIST-T' 


,-  .': ;  c^ 


FORTUNATE  is  the  hero  who  links  his  name  ro- 
mantically with  that  of  a  woman.  A  tender  inter- 
est in  his  fame  is  assured.  Still  more  fortunate  is  he 
if  he  is  able  to  record  his  own  achievements  and  give 
to  them  that  form  and  color  and  im.portance,  which 
they  assume  in  his  own  gallant  consciousness. 
Captain  John  Smith,  the  first  of  an  honored  name, 
had  this  double  good  fortune. 

We  are  indebted  to  him  for  the  glowing  picture 
of  a  knight-errant  of  the  sixteenth  century,  mov- 
ing with  the  port  of  a  swash-buckler  across  the 
field  of  vision,  wherever  cities  were  to  be  taken 
and  heads  cracked  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  and, 
in  the  language  of  one  of  his  laureates — 

"  To  see  bright  honor  sparkled  all  in  gore." 

But  we  are  specially  his  debtor  for  adventures  on 
our  own  continent,  narrated  with  naivete  and  vigor 
by  a  pen  as  direct  and  clear-cutting  as  the  sword 
with  which  he  shaved  off  the  heads  of  the  Turks, 
and  for  one  of  the  few  romances  that  illumine  our 
early  history. 

Captain  John  Smith  understood  his  good  fortune 
in  being  the  recorder  of  his  own  deeds,  and  he 
preceded  Lord  Beaconsfield  (in  "  Endymion  ")  in  his 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  influence  of  women 
upon  the  career  of  a  hero.     In  the  dedication  of  his 


2  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  13 

''General   Historie"  to  Frances,  Duchess  of  Rich- 
mond,,l^e.  says  : 

''/l^i'i.Ve' Viceply,  ha-zarded   myself  in   doing  and 
suffering,  and^ivhy  should  J  sticke  to  hazard  my  rep- 
utafioa  in  leeordi up-  ?,    flc  that  acteth  two  parts  is 
the'  mOrfe  borne  withall  if  he  come  short,  or  fayle  in 
one  of  them.     WJilere  shall  we  looke  to  finde  a  Tu- 
lius  Caesar ^Vv'hose  afcnievments  shine  as  cleare  in 
his   owne  Commentaries,  as  they  did   in   the  field  ? 
I  confesse,  my  han-d  though  able  to  wield  a  weapon 
among    the   Barbarous,    yet  well    may    tremble    in 
handling  a  Pen  among  so  many  Judicious  ;  especial- 
ly when  I  am  so  bold  as  to  call  so  piercing  and  so 
glorious  an  Eye,  as  your  Grace,  to  view  these  poore 
ragged  lines.     Yet  my  comfort   is  that  heretofore 
honorable    and  vertuous   Ladies,  and    comparable 
but  amongst  themselves,   have   offered  me  rescue 
and    protection    in   my   greatest   dangers:    even   in 
forraine  parts,  I  have  felt  reliefe  from  that  sex.     The 
beauteous  Lady  Tragabigzanda,  when  I  was  a  slave 
to  the  Turks,  did  all  she  could  to  secure  me.    When 
I  overcame  the  Bashaw  of  Nalbrits  in  Tartaria,  the 
charitable  Lady  Callamata  supplyed  my  necessities, 
In  the  utmost    of    manv   extremities,   that  blessed 
Pokahontas,  the  great  King's  daughter  of  Virginia, 
oft  saved  my  life.     When  I  escaped  the  cruelties  of 
Pirats  and  most  furious  stormes,  a  long  time  alone 
in  a  small  Boat  at  Sea,  and  driven  ashore  in  France, 
the  good  Lady  Chanoyes  bountifully  assisted  me." 
It    is    stated    in   his   "True    Travels"   that   John 
Smith   was   born    in  Willoughby,  in   Lincolnshire. 
The  year  of  his  birth  is  not  given,  but  it  was  prob- 
ably in  1579,  as  it  appears  by  the  portrait  prefixed 
to   that  work   that  he  was  aged  37  years   in  16 16. 
We  are  able  to  add  also  that  the  rector  of  the  Wil- 


1579]  BIRTH  AND    TRAINING.  3 

loughby  Rectory,  Alford,  finds  in  the  register  an 
entry  of  the  baptism  of  John,  son  of  George  Smith, 
under  date  of  Jan.  9th,  1579.  His  biographers,  fol- 
lowing his  account,  represent  him  as  of  ancient 
lineage  :  "  His  father  actually  descended  from  the 
ancient  Smiths  of  Crudley  in  Lancashire,  his  mother 
from  the  Rickands  at  great  Heck  in  Yorkshire  ;" 
but  the  circumstances  of  his  boyhood  would  indi- 
cate that  like  many  other  men  who  have  made 
themselves  a  name,  his  origin  was  humble.  If  it 
had  been  otherwise  he  would  scarcely  have  been 
bound  as  an  apprentice,  nor  had  so  much  difficulty 
in  his  advancement.  But  the  boy  was  born  with  a 
merry  disposition,  and  in  his  earliest  years  was 
impatient  for  adventure.  The  desire  to  rove  was 
doubtless  increased  by  the  nature  of  his  native 
shire,  which  offered  every  inducement  to  a  lad  of 
spirit  to  leave  it. 

Lincolnshire  is  the  most  uninteresting  part  of  all 
England.  It  is  frequently  water-logged  till  late  in 
the  summer  :  invisible  a  part  of  the  year,  when  it 
emerges  it  is  mostly  a  dreary  fiat.  Willoughby  is 
a  considerable  village  in  this  shire,  situated  about 
three  miles  and  a  half  south-eastward  from  Alford. 
It  stands  just  on  the  edge  of  the  chalk  hills  whose 
drives  gently  slope  down  to  the  German  Ocean, 
and  the  scenery  around  offers  an  unvarying  expanse 
of  flats.  All  the  villages  in  this  part  of  Lincolnshire 
exhibit  the  same  character.  The  name  ends  in  by^ 
the  Danish  word  for  hamlet  or  small  village,  and 
we  can  measure  the  progress  of  the  Danish  invasion 
of  England  by  the  number  of  towns  which  have 
the  terminal  b}\  distinguished  from  the  Saxon  thorpe, 
which  generally  ends  the  name  of  villages  in  York- 
shire.    The  population  may  be  said  to  be  Danish — 


4  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  13 

light-haired  and  blue-eyed.  Such  was  John  Smith. 
The  sea  was  the  natural  element  of  his  neighbors, 
and  John  when  a  boy  must  have  heard  many  stories 
of  the  sea  and  enticing  adventures  told  by  the 
sturdy  mariners  w^ho  were  recruited  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Willoughby,  and  whose  oars  had  often 
cloven  the  Baltic  Sea. 

Willoughby  boasts  some  antiquity.  Its  church 
is  a  spacious  structure,  with  a  nave,  north  and  south 
aisles,  and  a  chance],  and  a  tower  at  the  west  end. 
In  the  floor  is  a  stone  with  a  Latin  inscription,  in 
black  letter,  round  the  verge,  to  the  memory  of  one 
Gilbert  West,  who  died  in  1404.  The  church  is 
dedicated  to  St.  Helen.  In  the  village  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  also  have  a  place  of  worship.  Accord- 
ing to  the  parliamentary  returns  of  1825,  the  parish 
including  the  hamlet  of  Sloothby  contained  108 
houses  and  514  inhabitants.  All  the  churches  in 
Lincolnshire  indicate  the  existence  of  a  much  larger 
population  who  were  in  the  habit  of  attending 
service  than  exists  at  present.  Many  of  these  now 
empty  are  of  size  sufficient  to  accommodate  the 
entire  population  of  several  villages.  Such  a  one 
is  Willoughby,  which  unites  in  its  church  the  adja- 
cent village  of  Sloothby. 

The  stories  of  the  sailors  and  the  contiguity  of 
the  salt  water  had  more  influence  on  the  boy's  mind 
than  the  free  schools  of  Alford  and  Louth  which  he 
attended,  and  when  he  was  about  thirteen  he  sold 
his  books  and  satchel  and  intended  to  run  away  to 
sea :  but  the  death  of  his  father  stayed  him.  Both 
his  parents  being  now  dead,  he  was  left  with,  he 
says,  competent  means  ;  but  his  guardians  regarding 
his  estate  more  than  himself,  gave  him  full  liberty 
and  no  money,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  stay  at  home. 


1592]  BIRTH  AND    TRAINING.  5 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  was  bound  apprentice  to 
Mr.  Thomas  S.  Tendall  of  Lynn.  The  articles,  how- 
ever, did  not  bind  him  very  fast,  for  as  his  master 
refused  to  send  him  to  sea,  John  took  leave  of  his 
master  and  did  not  see  him  again  for  eight  years. 
These  details  exhibit  in  the  boy  the  headstrong  in- 
dependence of  the  man. 

At  length  he  found  means  to  attach  himself  to  a 
young  son  of  the  great  soldier  Lord  Willoughby, 
who  was  going  into  France.  The  narrative  is  not 
clear,  but  it  appears  that  upon  reaching  Orleans,  in 
a  month  or  so  the  services  of  John  were  found  to  be 
of  no  value,  and  he  was  sent  back  to  his  friends, 
who  on  his  return  generously  gave  him  ten  shillings 
(out  of  his  own  estate)  to  be  rid  of  him.  He  is  next 
heard  of  enjoying  his  liberty  at  Paris  and  making 
the  acquaintance  of  a  Scotchman  named  David 
Hume,  who  used  his  purse — ten  shillings  went  a 
long  ways  in  those  days — and  in  return  gave  him 
letters  of  commendation  to  prefer  him  to  King 
James.  But  the  boy  had  a  disinclination  to  go 
where  he  was  sent.  Reaching  Rouen,  and  being 
nearly  out  of  money,  he  dropped  down  the  river  to 
Havre  de  Grace,  and  began  to  learn  to  be  a  soldier. 

Smith  says  not  a  word  of  the  great  war  of  the 
Leaguers  and  Henry  IV.,  nor  on  which  side  he 
fought,  nor  is  it  probable  that  he  cared.  But  he  was 
doubtless  on  the  side  of  Henry,  as  Havre  was  at  this 
time  in  possession  of  that  soldier.  Our  adventurer 
not  only  makes  no  reference  to  the  great  religious 
war,  nor  to  the  League,  nor  to  Henry,  but  he  does 
not  tell  who  held  Paris  when  he  visited  it.  Appar- 
ently state  affairs  did  not  interest  him.  His  refer- 
ence to  a  "peace"  helps  us  to  fix  the  date  of  his 
first   adventure    in   France.     Henry    published    the 


6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  16-20 

Edict  of  Nantes  at  Paris,  April  13,  1598,  and  on 
the  2d  of  May  following,  concluded  the  treaty  of 
France  with  Philip  II.  at  Vervins,  which  closed  the 
Spanish  pretensions  in  France.  The  Due  de  Mer- 
coeur  (of  whom  we  shall  hear  later  as  Smith's  "  Duke 
of  Mercury"  in  Hungary),  Duke  of  Lorraine,  was 
allied  with  the  Guises  in  the  League,  and  had  the 
design  of  holding  Bretagne  under  Spanish  protec- 
tion. However,  fortune  was  against  him  and  he 
submitted  to  Henry  in  February,  1598,  with  no  good 
grace.  Looking  about  for  an  opportunity  to  dis- 
tinguish himself,  he  offered  his  services  to  the  Em- 
peror Rudolph  to  fight  the  Turks,  and  it  is  said  led 
an  army  of  his  French  followers,  numbering  15,000, 
in  1601,  to  Hungary,  to  raise  the  siege  of  Caniza, 
which  was  beleaguered  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  with 
60,000  men. 

Chance  of  fighting  and  pay  failing  in  France  by 
reason  of  the  peace,  he  enrolled  himself  under  the 
banner  of  one  of  the  roving  and  fighting  captains 
of  the  time,  who  sold  their  swords  in  the  best  mar- 
ket, and  went  over  into  the  Low  Countries,  where 
he  hacked  and  hewed  away  at  his  fellow-men,  all  in 
the  way  of  business,  for  three  or  foiir  years.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  bethought  himself  that  he  had 
not  delivered  his  letters  to  Scotland.  He  embarked 
at  Aucusan  for  Leith,  and  seems  to  have  been  ship- 
wrecked, and  detained  by  illness  in  the  "holy  isle" 
in  Northumberland,  near  Barwick.  On  his  recov- 
ery he  delivered  his  letters,  and  received  kind  treat- 
ment from  the  Scots  ;  but  as  he  had  no  money, 
which  was  needed  to  make  his  way  as  a  courtier,  he 
returned  to  Willoughby. 

The  family  of  Smith  is  so  "  ancient "  that  the  his- 
torians of  the  county  of  Lincoln  do  not  allude  to  it. 


1599]  BIRTH  AND    TRAINING.  j 

and  only  devote  a  brief  paragraph  to  the  great  John 
himself.     Willoughby  must  have  been  a  dull  place 
to    him    after   his  adventures,  but  he  says  he  was 
glutted   with  company,  and   retired  into  a  woody 
pasture,  surrounded  by  forests,  a  good  ways  from 
any  town,  and    there   built   himself   a    pavilion  of 
boughs — less  substantial  than  the  cabin  of  Thoreau 
at  Walden  Pond — and  there  he  heroically  slept  in 
his  clothes,  studied  Machiavelli's  "  Art  of  War,"  read 
"  Marcus  Aurelius,"  and  exercised  on  his  horse  with 
lance  and  ring.     This  solitory  conduct  got  him  the 
name  of  a  hermit,  whose  food  was  thought  to  be 
more  of  venison  than  anything  else,  but  in  fact  his 
m.en    kept    him    supplied  with    provisions.      When 
John  had  indulged  in  this  ostentatious  seclusion  for 
a  time,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  out  of  it  by 
the  charming  discourse   of  a  noble  Italian   named 
Theodore   Palaloga,  who   just    then    was    Rider   to 
Henry  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  went  to  stay  with  him 
at  Tattershall.     This  was  an  ancient  town,  with  a 
castle,  which  belonged  to  the  Earls  of  Lincoln,  and 
was  situated  on  the  River  Bane,  only  fourteen  miles 
from    Boston,   a   name   that  at   once    establishes  a 
connection  between  Smith's  native  county  and  our 
own  country,  for  it  is  nearly  as  certain  that  St.  Bo- 
tolph   founded   a  monastery  at  Boston,  Lincoln,  in 
the  year  654,  as  it  is  that  he  founded  a  club  after- 
wards in  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Whatever  were  the  pleasures  of  Tattershall,  they 
could  not  long  content  the  restless  Smith,  who  soon 
set  out  again  for  the  Netherlands  in  search  of  adven- 
tures. 

The  life  of  Smith,  as  it  is  related  by  himself,  reads 
like  that  of  a  belligerent  tramp,  but  it  was  not  un- 
common in  his  day,  nor  is  it  in  ours,  whenever  Amer- 


L^ 


8  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  20-21 

ica  produces  soldiers  of  fortune  who  are  ready,  for  a 
compensation,  to  take  up  the  quarrels  of  Egyptians 
or,  Chinese,  or  go  wherever  there  is  lighting  and 
booty.  Smith  could  now  handle  arms  and  ride  a 
horse,  and  longed  to  go  against  the  Turks,  whose 
anti-Christian  contests  filled  his  soul  with  lamenta- 
tions; and  besides  he  was  tired  of  seeing  Christians 
slaughter  each  other.  Like  most  heroes,  he  had  a 
vivid  imagination  that  made  him  credulous,  and  in 
the  Netherlands  he  fell  into  the  toils  of  three  French 
gallants,  one  of  whom  pretended  to  be  a  great  lord, 
attended  by  his  gentlemen,  who  persuaded  him  to 
accompany  them  to  the  "  Duchess  of  Mercury," 
whose  lord  was  then  a  general  of  Rodolphus  of 
Hungary,  whose  favor  they  could  command.  Em- 
barking with  these  arrant  cheats,  the  vessel  reached 
the  coast  of  Picardy,  where  his  comrades  contrived 
to  take  ashore  their  own  baggage  and  Smith's  trunk, 
containing  his  money  and  goodly  apparel,  leaving 
him  on  board.  When  the  captain,  who  was  in  the 
plot,  was  enabled  to  land  Smith  the  next  day,  the 
noble  lords  had  disappeared  with  the  luggage,  and 
Smith,  who  had  only  a  single  piece  of  gold  in  his 
pocket,  was  obliged  to  sell  his  cloak  to  pay  his  pas- 
sage. 

Thus  stripped,  he  roamed  about  Normandy  in  a 
forlorn  condition,  occasionally  entertained  by  hon- 
orable persons  who  had  heard  of  his  misfortunes, 
and  seeking  always  means  of  continuing  his  travels, 
wandering  from  port  to  port  on  the  chance  of  em- 
barking on  a  man-of-war.  Once  he  was  found  in  a 
forest  near  dead  with  grief  and  cold,  and  rescued  by 
a  rich  farmer  ;  shortly  afterwards,  in  a  grove  in  Brit- 
tany, he  chanced  upon  one  of  the  gallants  who  had 
robbed  him,  and  the  two  out  swords  and  fell  to  cut- 


l6oo]  BIRTH  AND    TRAINING.  9 

ting.  Smith  had  the  satisfaction  of  wounding  the 
rascal,  and  the  inhabitants  of  a  ruined  tower  near  by, 
who  witnessed  the  combat,  were  quite  satisfied  with 
the  event. 

Our  hero  then  sought  out  the  Earl  of  Ployer, 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  England  during  the 
French  wars,  by  whom  he  was  refurnished  better 
than  ever.  After  this  streak  of  luck,  he  roamed 
about  France,  viewing  the  castles  and  strongholds, 
and  at  length  embarked  at  Marseilles  on  a  ship  for 
Italy.  Rough  weather  coming  on,  the  vessel  an- 
chored under  the  lee  of  the  little  isle  St.  Mary,  off 
Nice,  in  Savoy. 

The  passengers  on  board,  among  whom  were 
many  pilgrims  bound  for  Rome,  regarded  Smith  as 
a  Jonah,  cursed  him  for  a  Huguenot,  swore  that  his 
nation  were  all  pirates,  railed  against  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  declared  that  they  never  should  have  fair 
weather  so  long  as  he  was  on  board.  To  end  the 
dispute,  they  threw  him  into  the  sea.  But  God  got 
him  ashore  on  the  little  island,  whose  only  inhabi- 
tants were  goats  and  a  few  kine.  The  next  day  a 
couple  of  trading  vessels  anchored  near,  and  he  was 
taken  off  and  so  kindly  used  that  he  decided  to  cast 
in  his  fortune  with  them.  Smith's  discourse  of  his 
adventures  so  entertained  the  master  of  one  of  the 
vessels,  who  is  described  as  "  this  noble  Britaine,  his 
neighbor,  Captaine  la  Roche,  of  Saint  Malo,"  that 
the  much-tossed  wanderer  was  accepted  as  a  friend. 
They  sailed  to  the  Gulf  of  Turin,  to  Alessandria, 
where  they  discharged  freight,  then  up  to  Scander- 
oon,  and  coasting  for  some  time  among  the  Grecian 
islands,  evidently  in  search  of  more  freight,  they  at 
length  came  round  to  Cephalonia,  and  lay  to  for 
some  days  betwixt  the  isle  of  Corfu  and  the  Cape  of 


10  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  21 

Otranto.  Here  it  presently  appeared  what  sort  of 
freight  the  noble  Britaine,  Captain  la  Roche,  was 
looking  for. 

An  argosy  of  Venice  hove  in  sight,  and  Captaine 
la  Roche  desired  to  speak  to  her.  The  reply  was  so 
"  untoward  "  that  a  man  was  slain,  whereupon  the 
Britaine  gave  the  argosy  a  broadside,  and  then  his 
stern,  and  then  other  broadsides.  A  lively  fight  en- 
sued, in  which  the  Britaine  lost  fifteen  men,  and  the 
argosy  twenty,  and  then  surrendered  to  save  herself 
from  sinking.  The  noble  Britaine  and  John  Smith 
then  proceeded  to  rifle  her.  He  says  that  "the 
Silkes,  Velvets,  Cloth  of  Gold,  and  Tissue,  Pyasters, 
Chiqueenes  and  Sultanies,  which  is  gold  and  silver, 
they  unloaded  in  four-and-twenty  hours  was  won- 
derful, whereof  having  sufficient,  and  tired  with 
toils,  they  cast  her  off  with  her  company,  with  as 
much  good  merchandise  as  would  have  freighted 
another  Britaine,  that  was  but  two  hundred  Tunnes, 
she  four  or  five  hundred."  Smith's  share  of  this 
booty  was  modest.  When  the  ship  returned  he  was 
set  ashore  at  ''  the  Road  of  Antibo  in  Piamon," 
"with  five  hundred  chiqueenes  [sequins]  and  a  little 
box  God  sent  him  worth  neere  as  much  more."  He 
always  devoutly  acknowledged  his  dependence  upon 
divine  Providence,  and  took  willingly  what  God 
sent  him. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FIGHTING    IN    HUNGARY. 

SMITH  being  thus  "  refurnished,"  made  the  tour  of 
Italy,  satisfied  himself  with  the  rarities  of  Rome, 
where  he  saw  Pope  Clement  the  Eighth  and  many 
cardinals  creep  up  the  holy  stairs,  and  with  the  fair 
city  of  Naples  and  the  kingdom's  nobility;  and 
passing  through -the  north  he  came  into  Styria,  to  the 
Court  of  Archduke  Ferdinand;  and,  introduced  by 
an  Englishman  and  an  Irish  Jesuit  to  the  notice  of 
Baron  Kisell,  general  of  artillery,  he  obtained  em- 
ployment, and  went  to  Vienna  with  Colonel  Voldo, 
Earl  of  Meldritch,  with  whose  regiment  he  was  to 
serve. 

He  was  now  on  the  threshold  of  his  lonor  desired 
campaign  against  the  Turks.  The  arrival  on  the 
scene  of  this  young  man,  who  was  scarcely  out  of 
his  teens,  was  a  shadow  of  disaster  to  the  Turks. 
They  had  been  carrying  all  before  them.  Rudolph 
II.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  was  a  weak  and  irresolute 
character,  and  no  match  for  the  enterprising  Sultan, 
Mahomet  III.,  who  was  then  conducting  the  inva- 
sion of  Europe.  The  Emperor's  brother,  the  Arch- 
duke Mathias,  who  was  to  succeed  him,  and  Ferdi- 
nand, Duke  of  Styria,  also  to  become  Emperor  of 
Germany,  were  much  abler  men,  and  maintained  a 
good  front  against  the  Moslems  in  Lower  Hungary, 
but  the  Turks  all  the  time  steadily  advanced.  They 
had   long  occupied  Buda  (Pesth),  and  had  been  in 


12  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  22 

possession  of  the  stronghold  of  Alba  Regalis  for 
some  sixty  years.  Before  Smith's  advent  they  had 
captured  the  important  city  of  Caniza,  and  just  as 
he  reached  the  ground  they  had  besieged  the  town 
of  Ohimpagh,  with  two  thousand  men.  But  the  ad- 
dition to  the  armies  of  Germany,  France,  Styria,  and 
Hungary  of  John  Smith,  *'  this  EngHsh  gentleman," 
as  he  styles  himself,  put  a  new  face  on  the  war,  and 
proved  the  ruin  of  the  Turkish  cause.  The  Bashaw 
of  Buda  was  soon  to  feel  the  effect  of  this  re-enforce- 
ment. 

Caniza  is  a  town  in  Lower  Hungary,  north  of  the 
River  Drave,  and  just  west  of  the  Platen  Sea,  or  Lake 
Balatin,  as  it  is  also  called.  Due  north  of  Can- 
iza a  few  miles,  on  a  bend  of  the  little  River  Raab 
(which  empties  into  the  Danube),  and  south  of  the 
town  of  Kerment,  lay  Smith's  town  of  Olumpagh, 
which  we  are  able  to  identify  on  a  map  of  the 
period  *  as  Olimacum  or  Oberlymback.  In  this 
strong  town  the  Turks  had  shut  up  the  garrison 
under  command  of  Gov.  Ebersbraught  so  closely 
that  it  was  without  intelligence  or  hope  of  succor. 

In  this  strait,  the  ingenious  John  Smith,  who  was 
present  in  the  reconnoitering  army  in  the  regiment 
of  the  Earl  of  Meldritch,  came  to  the  aid  of  Baron 
Kisell,  the  general  of  artillery,  with  a  plan  of  com- 
munication with  the  besieged  garrison.  Fortunately 
Smith  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Lord  Sbers- 
braught  at  Gratza,  in  St3^ria,  and  had  (he  says)  com- 
municated to  him  a  system  of  signaling  a  message 
by  the  use  of  torches.  Smith  seems  to  have  elab- 
orated this  method  of  signals,  and  providentially 
explained   it  to  Lord  Ebersbraught,  as  if  he  had  a 

*  The  "  Theatium  Orbis  Terrarum  of  Abrahamus  Ortelius." 
Antwerp,  1579. 


i6oiJ  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  13 

presentiment  of  the  letter's  use  of  it.  He  divided 
tlie  alphabet  into  two  parts,  from  A  to  L  and  from 
M  to  Z.  Letters  were  indicated  and  words  spelled 
by  the  means  of  torches:  ''  The  first  part,  from  A  to 
L,  is  signified  by  showing  and  holding  one  linke  so 
oft  as  there  is  letters  from  A  to  that  letter  you  name; 
the  other  part,  from  M  to  Z,  is  mentioned  by  two 
lights  in  like  manner.  The  end  of  a  word  is  signi- 
fien  by  showing  of  three  lights." 

Gen.  Kisell,  inflamed  by  this  strange  invention, 
which  Smith  made  plain  to  him,  furnished  him 
guides,  who  conducted  him  to  a  high  mountain, 
seven  miles  distant  from  the  town,  where  he  flashed 
his  torches  and  got  a  reply  from  the  governor. 
Smith  signaled  that  they  would  charge  on  the  east 
of  the  town  in  the  night,  and  at  the  alarum  Ebers- 
braught  was  to  sally  forth.  Gen.  Kisell  doubted 
that  he  should  be  able  to  relieve  the  town  by  this 
means,  as  he  had  only  ten  thousand  men;  but  Smith, 
whose  fertile  brain  was  now  in  full  action,  and  who 
seems  to  have  assumed  charge  of  the  campaign,  hit 
upon  a  stratagem  for  the  diversion  and  confusion  of 
the  Turks. 

On  the  side  of  the  town  opposite  the  proposed 
point  of  attack  lay  the  plain  of  Hysnaburg  (Eisna- 
burg  on  Ontelius's  map).  Smith  fastened  two  or 
three  charred  pieces  of  match  to  divers  small  lines 
of  an  hundred  fathoms  in  length,  armed  with  pow- 
der. Each  line  was  tied  to  a  stake  at  each  end. 
After  dusk  these  lines  were  set  up  on  the  plain,  and 
being  fired  at  the  instant  the  alarm  was  given,  they 
seemed  to  the  Turks  like  so  many  rows  of  musket- 
eers. While  the  Turks  therefore  prepared  to  repel 
a  great  army  from  that  side,  Kisell  attacked  with  his 
ten  thousand  men,  Ebersbraught  sallied  out  and  fell 


14  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  22 

upon  the  Turks  in  the  trenches,  all  the  enemy  on 
that  side  were  slain  or  drowned,  or  put  to  flight. 
And  while  the  Turks  were  busy  routing  Smith's 
sham  musketeers,  the  Christians  threw  a  couple  of 
thousand  troops  into  the  town.  Whereupon  the 
Turks  broke  up  the  siege  and  retired  to  Caniza. 
For  this  exploit  Gen.  Kisell  received  great  honor  at 
Kerment,  and  Smith  was  rewarded  with  the  rank  of 
captain,  and  the  command  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
horsemen.  From  this  time  our  liero  must  figure  as 
Capt.  John  Smith.  The  rank  is  not  high,  but  he 
has  made  the  title  great,  just  as  he  has  made  the 
name  of  John  Smith  unique. 

After  this  there  were  runjors  of  peace  for  these 
tormented  countries;  but  the  Turks,  who  did  not  yet 
appreciate  the  nature  of  this  force,  called  John  Smith, 
that  had  come  into  the  world  against  them,  did  not 
intend  peace,  but  went  on  levying  soldiers  and 
launching  them  into  Hungary.  To  oppose  these 
fresh  invasions,  Rudolph  II.,  aided  by  the  Christian 
princes,  organized  three  armies:  one  led  by  the 
Archduke  Mathiiis  and  his  lieutenant,  Duke  Mer- 
cury, to  defend  Low  Hungary;  the  second  led  by 
Ferdinand,  the  Archduke  of  Styria,  and  the  Duke 
of  Mantua,  his  lieutenant,  to  regain  Caniza;  the 
third  by  Gonzago,  Governor  of  High  Hungary,  to 
join  with  Georgio  Busca,  to  make  an  absolute  con- 
quest of  Transylvania. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  Duke  Mercury,  with  an 
army  of  thirty  thousand,  whereof  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand were  French,  besieged  Stowell-Wesenburg, 
otherwise  called  Alba  Regalis,  a  place  so  strong  by 
art  and  nature  that  it  was  thought  impregnable. 

This  stronghold,  situated  on  the  north-east  of  the 
Platen  Sea,  was,  like  Caniza  and  Oberlympack,  one 


i6oi]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  1 5 

of  the  Turkish  advanced  posts,  by  means  of  which 
they  pushed  forward  their  operations  from  Buda  on 
the  Danube. 

This  noble  friend  of  Smith,  the  Duke  of  Mercury, 
whom  Haylyn  styles  Duke  Mercurio,  seems  to  have 
puzzled  the  biographers  of  Smith.  In  fact,  the 
name  of  "  Mercury "  has  given  a  mythological  air 
to  Smith's  narration  and  aided  to  transfer  it  to  the 
region  of  romance.  He  was,  however,  as  we  have 
seen,  identical  with  a  historical  character  of  some 
importance,  for  the  services  he  rendered  to  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  a  commander  of  some  con- 
siderable skill.  He  is  no  other  than  Philip  de  Lor- 
raine, Due  de  Mercoeur.* 

At  the  siege  of  Alba  Regalis,  the  Turks  gained 
several  successes  by  night  sallies,  and,  as  usual,  it 
was  not  till  Smith  came  to  the  front  with  one  of  his 
ingenious  devices  that  the  fortune  of  war  changed. 
The  Earl  Meldritch,  in  whose  regiment  Smith 
served,  having  heard  from  some  Christians  who  es- 
caped from  the  town  at  what  place  there  were  the 
greatest  assemblies  and  throngs  of  people  in  the 
city,  caused  Capt.  Smith  to  put  in  practice  his 
"fiery  dragons."  These  instruments  of  destruction 
are  carefully  described:  "  Having  prepared  fortie  or 
liftie  round-bellied  earthen  pots,  and  filled  them 
with  hand  Gunpowder,  then  covered  them  with 
Pitch,  mingled  with  Brimstone  and  Turpentine,  and 
quartering  as  many  Musket-bullets,  that  hung  to- 
gether but  only  at  the  center  of  the  division,  stucke 

*  So  far  as  I  know,  Dr.  Edward  Eggleston  was  the  first  to 
identify  him.  There  is  a  sketch  of  him  in  the  "  Biographie 
Universelle,"  and  a  life  with  an  account  of  his  exploits  in  Hun- 
gary, entitled  "  Histoire  de  Due  Mercoeur,  par  Bruseles  de 
Montplain  Champs,  Cologne,  1689-97. 


1 6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  22 

them  round  in  the  mixture  about  the  pots,  and  cov- 
ered them  againe  with  the  same  mixture,  over  that 
a  strong  sear-cloth,  then  over  all  a  goode  thicknesse 
of  Towze-match,  well  tempered  with  oyle  of  Lin- 
seed, Campheer,  and  powder  of  Brimstone,  these  he 
fitly  placed  in  slings,  graduated  so  neere  as  they 
could  to  the  places  of  these  assemblies." 

These  missiles  of  Smith's  invention  were  flung  at 
midnight,  when  the  alarum  was  given,  and  "  it  was  a 
perfect  sight  to  see  the  short  flaming  course  of  their 
flight  in  the  air,  but  presently  after  their  fall,  the 
lamentable  noise  of  the  miserable  slaughtered 
Turkes  was  most  wonderful  to  heare." 

While  Smith  was  amusing  the  Turks  in  this  man- 
ner, the  Earl  Rosworme  planned  an  attack  on  the 
opposite  suburb,  which  was  defended  by  a  muddy 
lake,  supposed  to  be  impassable.  Furnishing  his 
men  with  bundles  of  sedge,  which  they  threw  before 
them  as  they  advanced  in  the  dark  night,  the  lake 
was  made  passable,  the  suburb  surprised,  and  the 
captured  guns  of  the  Turks  were  turned  upon  them 
in  the  city  to  which  they  had  retreated.  The  arm.y 
of  the  Bashaw  was  cut  to  pieces  and  he  himself  cap- 
tured. 

The  Earl  of  Meldritch,  having  occupied  the  town, 
repaired  the  walls  and  the  ruins  of  this  famous  city 
that  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Turks  for 
some  threescore  years. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  attempt  to  trace  the  me- 
teoric course  of  Capt.  Smith  in  all  his  campaigns 
against  the  Turks,  only  to  indicate  the  large  part  he 
took  in  these  famous  wars  for  the  possession  of 
Eastern  Europe.  The  siege  of  Alba  Regalis  must 
have  been  about  the  year  1601 — Smith  never  trou- 
bles himself  with  any  dates — and  while  it  was  unde- 


i6oi]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  IJ 

cided,  Mahomet  III. — this  was  the  prompt  Sultan 
who  made  his  position  secure  by  putting  to  death 
nineteen  of  his  brothers  upon  his  accession — raised 
sixty  thousand  troops  for  its  relief  or  its  recovery. 
The  Due  de  Mercoeur  went  out  to  meet  this  army, 
and  encountered  it  in  the  plains  of  Girke.  In  the 
first  skirmishes  the  Earl  Meldritch  was  very  nearly 
cut  off,  although  he  made  "  his  valour  shine  more 
bright  than  his  armour,  which  seemed  then  painted 
with  Turkish  blood."  Smith  himself  was  sore 
wounded  and  had  his  horse  slain  under  him.  The 
campaign,  at  first  favorable  to  the  Turks,  was  incon- 
clusive, and  towards  winter  the  Bashaw  retired  to 
Buda.  The  Due  de  Mercoeur  then  divided  his 
army.  The  Earl  of  Rosworme  was  sent  to  assist 
the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  who  was  besieging  Can- 
iza;  the  Earl  of  Meldritch,  with  six  thousand  men, 
was  sent  to  assist  Georgio  Busca  against  the  Tran- 
sylvanians;  and  the  Due  de  Mercoeur  set  out  for 
France  to  raise  new  forces.  On  his  way  he  received 
great  honor  at  Vienna,  and  staying  overnight  at 
Nuremberg,  he  was  royally  entertained  by  the 
Archdukes  Mathias  and  Maximilian.  The  next 
morning  after  the  feast — how  it  chanced  is  not 
known — he  was  found  dead.  His  brother-in-law 
died  two  days  afterwards,  and  the  hearts  of  both, 
with  much  sorrow,  were  carried  into  France. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  important  event  in  the 
life  of  Smith  before  he  became  an  adventurer  in  Vir- 
ginia, an  event  which  shows  Smith's  readiness  to 
put  in  practice  the  chivalry  which  had  in  the  old 
chronicles  influenced  his  boyish  imagination;  and  we 
approach  it  with  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  it 
loses  nothing  in  Smith's  narration. 

It   must  be   mentioned   that  Transvlvania,  which 


1 8  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [^t.  22 

the  Earl  of  Meldritch,  accompanied  by  Capt.  Smith, 
set  out  to  relieve,  had  long  been  in  a  disturbed  con- 
dition, owing  to  internal  dissensions,  of  v/hich  the 
Turks  took  advantage.  Transylvania,  in  fact,  was  a 
Turkish  dependence,  and  it  gives  us  an  idea  of  the 
far  reach  of  the  Moslem  influence  in  Europe,  that 
Stephen  VI.,  vaivode  of  Transylvania,  was,  on  the 
commendation  of  Sultan  Armurath  III,,  chosen  King 
of  Poland. 

To  go  a  little  further  back  than  the  period  of 
Smith's  arrival,  John  II.  of  Transylvania  was  a 
champion  of  the  Turk,  and  an  enemy  of  Ferdinand 
and  his  successors.  His  successor,  Stephen  VI.,  sur- 
named  Battori,  or  Bathor,  was  made  vaivode  by  the 
Turks,  and  afterwards,  as  we  have  said,  King  of 
Poland.  He  was  succeeded  in  1575  by  his  brother 
Christopher  Battori,  who  was  the  first  to  drop  the 
title  of  vaivode  and  assume  that  of  Prince  of  Transyl- 
vania. The  son  of  Christopher,  Sigismund  Battori, 
shook  off  the  Turkish  bondage,  defeated  many  of 
Iheir  armies,  slew  some  of  their  pashas,  and  gained 
the  title  of  the  Scanderbeg  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived.  Not  able  to  hold  out,  however,  against  so 
potent  an  adversary,  he  resigned  his  estate  to  the 
Emperor  Rudolph  II.,  and  received  In  exchange  the 
dukedoms  of  Oppelon  and  Ratibor  in  Silesia,  with 
an  annual  pension  of  fifty  thousand  Joachims.  The 
pension  not  being  well  paid,  Sigismund  made  an- 
other resignation  of  his  principality  to  his  cousin 
Andrew  Battori,  who  had  the  ill  luck  to  be  slain 
within  the  year  by  the  vaivode  of  Valentia.  There- 
upon Rudolph,  Emperor  and  King  of  Hungary,  was 
acknowledged  Prince  of  Transylvania.  But  the 
Transylvania  soldiers  did  not  take  kindly  to  a  for- 
eign prince,  and  behaved  so  unsoldierly  that  Sigis- 


i6o2]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  I9 

mund  was  called  back.  But  he  was  unable  to  settle 
himself  in  his  dominions,  and  the  second  time  he  left 
his  country  in  the  power  of  Rudolph  and  retired 
to  Prague,  where,  in  1615,  he  died  unlamented. 

It  was  during  this  last  effort  of  Sigismund  to  re- 
gain his  position  that  the  Earl  of  Meldritch,  accom- 
panied by  Smith,  went  to  Transylvania,  with  the 
intention  of  assisting  Georgio  Busca,  who  was  the 
commander  of  the  Emperor's  party.  But  finding 
Prince  Sigismund  in  possession  of  the  most  terri- 
tory and  of  the  hearts  of  the  people,  the  earl  thought 
it  best  to  assist  the  prince  against  the  Turk,  rather 
than  Busca  against  the  prince.  Especially  was  he 
inclined  to  that  side  by  the  offer  of  free  liberty  of 
booty  for  his  worn  and  unpaid  troops,  of  what  they 
could  get  possession  of  from  the  Turks. 

This  last  consideration  no  doubt  persuaded  the 
troops  that  Sigismund  had  "  so  honest  a  cause." 
The  earl  was  born  in  Transylvania,  and  the  Turks 
were  then  in  possession  of  his  father's  country.  In 
this  distracted  state  of  the  land,  the  frontiers  had 
garrisons  among  the  mountains,  some  of  which 
held  for  the  emperor,  some  for  the  prince,  and  some 
for  the  Turk.  The  earl  asked  leave  of  the  prince  to 
make  an  attempt  to  regain  his  paternal  estate.  The 
prince,  glad  of  such  an  ally,  made  him  camp-master 
of  his  army,  and  gave  him  leave  to  plunder  the 
Turks.  Accordingly  the  earl  began  to  make  incur- 
sions of  the  frontiers  into  what  Smith  calls  the  Land 
of  Zarkam — among  rocky  mountains,  where  were 
some  Turks,  some  Tartars,  but  most  Brandittoes, 
Renegadoes,  and  such  like,  which  he  forced  into  the 
Plains  of  Regall,  where  was  a  city  of  men  and  fortifi- 
cations, strong  in  itself,  and  so  environed  with  moun- 
tains that  it  had  been  impregnable  in  all  these  wars. 


20  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  23 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  historians  and  the 
map-makers  did  not  always  attach  the  importance 
that  Smith  did  to  the  battles  in  which  he  was  con- 
spicuous, and  we  do  not  find  the  Land  of  Zarkam  or 
the  city  of  Regall  in  the  contemporary  chronicles  or 
atlases.  But  the  region  is  sufficiently  identified. 
On  the  River  Maruch,  or  Morusus,  was  the  town  of 
Alba  Julia,  or  Weisenberg,  the  residence  of  the  vai- 
vode  or  Prince  of  Transylvania.  South  of  this  cap- 
ital was  the  town  Millenberg,  and  southwest  of  this 
was  a  very  strong  fortress,  commanding  a  narrow 
pass  leading  into  Transylvania  out  of  Hungary, 
probably  where  the  River  Maruch  broke  through  the 
mountains.  We  infer  that  it  was  this  pass  that  the 
earl  captured  by  a  stratagem,  and  carrying  his  army 
through  it,  began  the  siege  of  Regall  in  the  plain. 
"The  earth  no  sooner  put  on  her  green  habit,"  says 
our  knight-errant,  "  than  the  earl  overspread  her 
with  his  troops."  Regall  occupied  a  strong  fortress 
on  a  promontory,  and  the  Christians  encamped  on 
the  plain  before  it. 

In  the  conduct  of  this  campaign,  we  pass  at  once 
into  the  age  of  chivalry,  about  which  Smith  had 
read  so  much.  We  cannot  but  recognize  that  this 
is  his  opportunity.  His  idle  boyhood  had  been 
soaked  in  old  romances,  and  he  had  set  out  in  his 
youth  to  do  what  equally  dreamy  but  less  venture- 
some devourers  of  old  chronicles  were  content  to 
read  about.  Everything  arranged  itself  as  Smith 
would  have  had  it.  When  the  Christian  army  ar- 
rived, the  Turks  sallied  out  and  gave  it  a  lively  wel- 
come, which  cost  each  side  about  fifteen  hundred 
men.  Meldritch  had  but  eight  thousand  soldiers, 
but  he  was  re-enforced  by  the  arrival  of  nine  thou- 
sand more,  with  six-and-twenty  pieces  of  ordnance. 


i6o2]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  21 

under  Lord  Zachel  Moyses,  the  general  of  the  army 
who  took  command  of  the  whole. 

After  the  first  skirmish  the  Turks  remained  within 
their  fortress,  the  guns  of  which  commanded  the 
plain,  and  the  Christians  spent  a  month  in  intrench- 
ing themselves  and  mounting  their  guns. 

The  Turks,  who  taught  Europe  the  art  of  civ- 
ilized war,  behaved  all  this  time  in  a  courtly  and 
chivalric  manner,  exchanging  with  the  besiegers 
wordy  compliments  until  such  time  as  the  latter 
were  ready  to  begin.  The  Turks  derided  the  slow 
progress  of  the  works,  inquired  if  their  ordnance 
was  in  pawn,  twitted  them  with  growing  fat  for 
want  of  exercise,  and  expressed  the  fear  that  the 
Christians  should  depart  without  making  an  as- 
sault. 

In  order  to  make  the  time  pass  pleasantly,  and 
exactly  in  accordance  with  the  tales  of  chivalry 
which  Smith  had  read,  the  Turkish  Bashaw  in  the 
fortress  sent  out  his  challenge:  "  That  to  delight  the 
ladies,  who  did  long  to  see  some  court-like  pastime, 
the  Lord  Tubashaw  did  defy  any  captaine  that  had 
the  command  of  a  company,  who  durst  combat  with 
him  for  his  head." 

This  handsome  offer  to  swap  heads  was  accepted; 
lots  were  cast  for  the  honor  of  meeting  the  lord, 
and,  fortunately  for  us,  the  choice  fell  upon  an 
ardent  fighter  of  twenty-three  years,  named  Captain 
John  Smith.  Nothing  was  wanting  to  give  dignity 
to  the  spectacle.  Truce  was  made;  the  ramparts  of 
this  fortress-city  in  the  mountains  (which  we  cannot 
find  on  the  map)  were  "  all  beset  with  faire  Dames 
and  men  in  Armes;"  the  Christians  were  drawn  up 
in  battle  array;  and  upon  the  theater  thus  prepared 
the  Turkish  Bashaw,  armed  and  mounted,  entered 


22  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  23 

with  a  flourish  of  hautboys;  on  his  shoulders  were 
fixed  a  pair  of  great  wings,  compacted  of  eagles' 
feathers  within  a  ridge  of  silver  richly  garnished 
with  gold  and  precious  stones;  before  him  was  a 
janissary  bearing  his  lance,  and  a  janissary  walked 
at  each  side  leading  his  steed. 

This  gorgeous  being  Smith  did  not  keep  long 
waiting.  Riding  into  the  field  with  a  flourish  of 
trumpets,  and  only  a  simple  page  to  bear  his  lance. 
Smith  favored  the  Bashaw  with  a  courteous  salute, 
took  position,  charged  at  the  signal,  and  before  the 
Bashaw  could  say  "Jack  Robinson,"  thrust  his  lance 
through  the  sight  of  his  beaver,  face,  head  and  all, 
threw  him  dead  to  the  ground,  alighted,  unbraced 
his  helmet,  and  cut  off  his  head.  The  whole  affair 
was  over  so  suddenly  that  as  a  pastime  for  ladies  it 
must  have  been  disappointing.  The  Turks  came 
out  and  took  the  headless  trunk,  and  Smith,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  challenge,  appropriated  the 
head  and  presented  it  to  General  Moyses. 

This  ceremonious  but  still  hasty  procedure  ex- 
cited the  rage  of  one  Grualgo,  the  friend  of  the 
Bashaw,  who  sent  a  particular  challenge  to  Smith 
to  regain  his  friend's  head  or  lose  his  own,  together 
with  his  horse  and  armor.  Our  hero  varied  the 
combat  this  time.  The  two  combatants  shivered 
lances  and  then  took  to  pistols;  Smith  received  a 
mark  upon  the  "  placard,"  but  so  wounded  the  Turk 
in  his  left  arm  that  he  was  unable  to  rule  his  horse. 
Smith  then  unhorsed  him,  cut  off  his  head,  took 
possession  of  head,  horse,  and  armor,  but  returned 
the  rich  apparel  and  the  body  to  his  friends  in  the 
most  gentlemanly  manner. 

Captain  Smith  was  perhaps  too  serious  a  knight 
to  see  the  humor  of  these  encounters,  but  he  does 


i6o2]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  22 

not  lack  humor  in  describing  them,  and  he  adopted 
easily  the  witty  courtesies  of  the  code  he  was  illus- 
trating. After  he  had  gathered  two  heads,  and  the 
siege  still  dragged,  he  became  in  turn  the  challenger, 
in  phrase  as  courteously  and  grimly  facetious  as 
was  permissible,  thus: 

"  To  delude  time.  Smith,  with  so  many  incontra- 
dictible  perswading  reasons,  obtained  leave  that  the 
Ladies  might  know  he  was  not  so  much  enamored 
of  their  servants'  heads,  but  if  any  Turke  of  their 
ranke  would  come  to  the  place  of  combat  to  redeem 
them,  should  have  also  his,  upon  like  conditions,  if 
he  could  winne  it." 

This  considerate  invitation  was  accepted  by  a 
person  whom  Smith,  with  his  usual  contempt  for 
names,  calls  "  Bonny  Mulgro."  It  seems  difficult  to 
immortalize  such  an  appellation,  and  it  is  a  pity 
that  we  have  not  the  real  one  of  the  third  Turk 
whom  Smith  honored  by  killing.  But  Bonny  Mul- 
gro, as  we  must  call  the  worthiest  foe  that  Smith's 
prowess  encountered,  appeared  upon  the  field. 
Smith  understands  working  up  a  narration,  and 
makes  this  combat  long  and  doubtful.  The  chal- 
lenged party,  who  had  the  choice  of  weapons,  had 
marked  the  destructiveness  of  his  opponent's  lance, 
and  elected,  therefore,  to  fight  with  pistols  and  bat- 
tle-axes. The  pistols  proved  harmless,  and  then  the 
battle-axes  came  in  play,  whose  piercing  bills  made 
sometime  the  one,  sometime  the  other,  to  have  scarce 
sense  to  keep  their  saddles.  Smith  received  such  a 
blow  that  he  lost  his  battle-axe,  whereat  the  Turks 
on  the  ramparts  set  up  a  great  shout.  "  The  Turk 
prosecuted  his  advantage  to  the  utmost  of  his  power; 
vet  the  other,  what  bv  the  readiness  of  his  horse, 
and  his  judgment  and  dexterity  in  such  a  business, 


H  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  23 

beyond  all  men's  expectations,  by  God's  assistance, 
not  only  avoided  the  Turke's  violence,  but  having 
drawn  his  Faulchion,  pierced  the  Turke  so  under  the 
Culets  throrow  backe  and  body,  that  although  he 
alighted  from  his  horse,  he  stood  not  long  ere  he 
lost  his  head,  as  the  rest  had  done." 

There  is  nothing  better  than  this  in  all  the  tales 
of  chivalry,  and  John  Smith's  depreciation  of  his 
inability  to  equal  Caesar  in  describing  his  own  ex- 
ploits, in  his  dedicatory  letter  to  the  Duchess  of 
Richmond,  must  be  taken  as  an  excess  of  modesty. 
We  are  prepared  to  hear  that  these  beheadings  gave 
such  encouragement  to  the  whole  army  that  six 
thousand  soldiers,  with  three  led  horses,  each  pre- 
ceded by  a  soldier  bearing  a  Turk's  head  on  a  lance, 
turned  out  as  a  guard  to  Smith  and  conducted  him 
to  the  pavilion  of  the  general,  to  whom  he  presented 
his  trophies.  General  Moyses  (occasionally  Smith 
calls  him  Moses)  took  him  in  his  arms  and  embraced 
him  with  much  respect,  and  gave  him  a  fair  horse, 
richly  furnished,  a  scimeter,  and  a  belt  worth  three 
hundred  ducats.  And  his  colonel  advanced  him  to 
the  position  of  sergeant-major  of  his  regiment.  If 
any  detail  was  wanting  to  round  out  and  reward 
this  knightly  performance  in  strict  accord  with  the 
old  romances,  it  was  supplied  by  the  subsequent 
handsome  conduct  of  Prince  Sigismund. 

When  the  Christians  had  mounted  their  guns  and 
made  a  couple  of  breaches  in  the  walls  of  Regall, 
General  Moyses  ordered  an  attack  one  dark  night 
*'by  the  light  that  proceeded  from  the  murdering 
muskets  and  peace-making  cannon."  The  enemy 
were  thus  aw^aited,  "  whilst  their  slothful  governor 
lay  in  a  castle  on  top  of  a  high  mountain,  and  like 
a  valiant    prince   asketh   what's    the    matter,  when 


i6o2]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  25 

horrour  and  death  stood  amazed  at  each  other,  to 
see  who  should  prevail  to  make  him  victorious." 
These  descriptions  show  that  Smith  could  handle 
the  pen  as  well  as  the  battle-axe,  and  distinguish 
him  from  the  more  vulgar  fighters  of  his  time.  The 
assault  succeeded,  but  at  great  cost  of  life.  The 
Turks  sent  a  flag  of  truce  and  desired  a  "  composi- 
tion," but  the  earl,  remembering  the  death  of  his 
father,  continued  to  batter  the  town,  and  when  he 
took  it  put  all  the  men  in  arms  to  the  sword,  and 
then  set  their  heads  upon  stakes  along  the  walls,  the 
Turks  having  ornamented  the  walls  with  Christian 
heads  when  they  captured  the  fortress.  Although 
the  town  afforded  much  pillage,  the  loss  of  so  many 
troops  so  mixed  the  sour  with  the  sweet  that  Gen- 
eral Moyses  could  only  allay  his  grief  by  sacking 
three  other  towns,  Veratis,  Solmos,  and  Kapronka. 
Taking  from  these  a  couple  of  thousand  prisoners, 
mostly  women  and  children,  Earl  Moyses  marched 
north  to  Weisenberg  (Alba  Julia),  and  camped  near 
the  palace  of  Prince  Sigismund. 

When  Sigismund  Battori  came  out  to  view  his 
army  he  was  made  acquainted  with  the  signal  ser- 
vices of  Smith  at  "  Olumpagh,  Stowell-Weisenberg, 
and  Regall,"  and  rew^arded  him  by  conferring  upon 
him,  according  to  the  law  of  arms,  a  shield  of  arms 
with  "three  Turks'  heads."  This  was  granted  by  a 
letter-patent,  in  Latin,  which  is  dated  at  "  Lipswick, 
in  Misenland,  December  9,  1603."  It  recites  that 
Smith  was  taken  captive  by  the  Turks  in  Wallachia 
November  18,  1602;  that  he  escaped  and  rejoined 
his  fellow-soldiers.  This  patent,  therefore,  was  not 
given  at  Alba  Julia,  nor  until  Prince  Sigismund  had 
finally  left  his  country,  and  when  the  Emperor  was, 
in    fact,   the    Prince    of    Transylvania.      Sigismund 


26  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  23 

Styles  himself,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Duke  of  Tran- 
sylvania, etc.  Appended  to  this  patent,  as  published 
in  Smith's  "  True  Travels,"  is  a  certificate  by  Will- 
iam Segar,  knight  of  the  garter  and  principal  king 
of  arms  of  England,  that  he  had  seen  this  patent 
and  had  recorded  a  copy  of  it  in  the  office  of  the 
Herald  of  Armes.  This  certificate  is  dated  August 
19,  1625,  the  year  after  the  publication  of  the  "Gen- 
eral Historic." 

Smith  says  that  Prince  Sigismund  also  gave  him 
his  picture  in  gold,  and  granted  him  an  annual  pen- 
sion of  three  hundred  ducats.  This  promise  of  a 
pension  was  perhaps  the  most  unsubstantial  portion 
of  his  reward,  for  Sigismund  himself  became  a  pen- 
sioner shortly  after  the  events  last  narrated. 

The  last  mention  of  Sigismund  by  Smith  is  after 
his  escape  from  captivity  in  Tartaria,  when  this 
mirror  of  virtues  had  abdicated.  Smith  visited  him 
at  "  Lipswicke  in  Misenland,"  and  the  Prince  "gave 
him  his  Passe,  intimating  the  service  he  had  done, 
and  the  honors  he  had  received,  with  fifteen  hun- 
dred ducats  of  gold  to  repair  his  losses."  The 
"Passe"  was  doubtless  the  "Patent"  before  intro- 
duced, and  we  hear  no  word  of  the  annual  pension. 

Affairs  in  Transylvania  did  not  mend  even  after 
the  capture  of  Rcgall  and  of  the  three  Turks'  heads, 
and  the  destruction  of  so  many  villages.  This  fruitful 
and  strong  country  was  the  prey  of  faction,  and  be- 
came little  better  than  a  desert  under  the  ravages 
of  the  contending  armies.  The  Emperor  Rudolph 
at  last  determined  to  conquer  the  country  for  him- 
self, and  sent  Busca  again  with  a  large  army.  Sig- 
ismund finding  himself  poorly  supported,  treated 
again  with  the  Emperor  and  agreed  to  retire  to 
Silicia  on  a  pension.     But  the  Earl  Moyses,  seeing 


i6o2]  FIGHTING  IN  HUNGARY.  2y 

no  prospect  of  regaining  his  patrimony,  and  deter- 
mining not  to  be  under  subjection  to  the  Ger- 
mans, led  his  troops  against  Busca,  was  defeated, 
and  fled  to  join  the  Turks.  Upon  this  desertion 
the  Prince  delivered  up  all  he  had  to  Busca  and 
retired  to  Prague.  Smith  himself  continued  with 
the  imperial  party,  in  the  regiment  of  Earl  Meld- 
ritch.  About  this  time  the  Sultan  sent  one  Jeremy 
to  be  vaivode  of  Wallachia,  whose  tyranny  caused 
the  people  to  rise  against  him,  and  he  fled  into 
Moldavia.  Busca  proclaimed  Lord  RodoU  vaivode 
in  his  stead.  But  Jeremy  assembled  an  army  of 
forty  thousand  Turks,  Tartars  and  Moldavians,  and 
retired  into  Wallachia.  Smith  took  active  part  in 
Rodoll's  campaign  to  recover  Wallachia,  and  nar- 
rates the  savage  war  that  ensued.  When  the  armies 
were  encamped  near  each  other  at  Razaand  Argish, 
RodoU  cut  off  the  heads  of  parties  he  captured 
going  to  the  Turkish  camp,  and  threw  them  into 
the  enemy's  trenches.  Jeremy  retorted  by  skinning 
alive  the  Christian  parties  he  captured,  hung  their 
skins  upon  poles,  and  their  carcasses  and  heads  on 
stakes  by  them.  In  the  first  battle  RodoU  was  suc- 
cessful and  established  himself  in  Wallachia,  but 
Jeremy  rallied  and  began  ravaging  the  country. 
Earl  Meldritchwas  sent  against  him,  but  the  Turks' 
force  was  much  superior,  and  the  Christians  were 
caught  in  a  trap.  In  order  to  reach  RodoU,  who  was 
at  Rottenton,  Meldritch  with  his  small  army  was 
obliged  to  cut  his  way  through  the  solid  body  of 
the  enemy.  A  device  of  Smith's  assisted  him.  He 
covered  two  or  three  hundred  trunks — probably 
small  branches  of  trees — with  wild-fire.  These 
fixed  upon  the  heads  of  lances  and  set  on  fire  when 
the   troops  charged   in   the  night,   so  terrified   the 


28  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  23 

horses  of  the  Turks  that  they  fled  in  dismay. 
Meldritch  was  for  a  moment  victorious,  but  when 
within  three  leagues  of  Rottenton  he  was  over- 
powered by  forty  thousand  Turks,  and  the  last  des- 
perate fight  followed,  in  which  nearly  all  the  friends 
of  the  Prince  were  slain,  and  Smith  himself  was 
left  for  dead  on  the  field. 

On  this   bloody  field  over   thirty    thousand   lay 
headless,  armless,  legless,  all  cut  and  mangled,  who 
gave  knowledge  to   the  world  how  dear  the  Turk 
paid  for  his  conquest  of  Transylvania  and  Walla- 
chia — a  conquest  that  might  have  been  averted  if 
the  three  Christian  armies  had  been  joined  against 
the  "cruel    devouring  Turk."     Among    the    slain 
were  many  Englishmen,  adventurers  like  the  valiant 
Captain  whom  Smith  names,  men  who  "left  there 
their  bodies   in   testimony  of   their   minds."     And 
there,  "  Smith  among  the  slaughtered  dead  bodies, 
and   many  a  gasping  soule  with   toils  and  wounds 
lay  groaning  among   the  rest,  till  being   found   by 
the  Pillagers  he  was  able  to  live,  and  perceiving  by 
his  armor  and  habit,  his  ransome  might  be  better 
than  his  death,  they  led  him  prisoner  with  many 
others."     The  captives  were  taken  to  Axopolis  and 
all  sold  as  slaves.     Smith  was  bought  by  Bashaw 
Bogall,  who  forwarded  him  by  way  of  Adrianopie 
to  Constantinople,    to   be  a  slave   to  his  mistress. 
So   chained   by  the   necks  in  gangs  of  twenty  they 
marched   to  the  city  of   Constantine,  where  Smith 
was  delivered  over  to  the  mistress  of  the  Bashaw, 
the  young  Charatza  Tragabigzanda. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CAPTIVITY    AND    WANDERING. 

OUR  hero  never  stirs  without  encountering  a  ro- 
mantic adventure.  Noble  ladies  nearly  always 
take  pity  on  good-looking  captains,  and  Smith  was 
far  from  ill-favored.  The  charming  Charatza  de- 
lighted to  talk  with  her  slave,  for  she  could  speak 
Italian,  and  would  feign  herself  too  sick  to  go  to 
the  bath,  or  to  accompany  the  other  women  when 
they  went  to  weep  over  the  graves,  as  their  custom 
is  once  a  w^eek,  in  order  to  stay  at  home  to  hear 
from  Smith  how  it  was  that  Bogall  took  him  pris- 
oner, as  the  Bashaw  had  writen  her,  and  whether 
Smith  was  a  Bohemian  lord  conquered  by  the 
Bashaw's  own  hand,  whose  ransom  could  adorn 
her  with  the  glory  of  her  lover's  conquests.  Great 
must  have  been  her  disgust  with  Bogall  when  she 
heard  that  he  had  not  captured  this  handsome 
prisoner,  but  had  bought  him  in  the  slave-market  at 
Axopolis.  Her  compassion  for  her  slave  increased, 
and  the  hero  thought  he  saw  in  her  eyes  a  tender  in- 
terest. But  she  had  no  use  for  such  a  slave,  and 
fearing  her  mother  would  sell  him,  she  sent  him  to 
her  brother,  the  Tymor  Bashaw  of  Nalbrits,  in  the 
country  of  Cambria,  a  province  of  Tartaria  (wher- 
ever that  may  be).  If  all  had  gone  on  as  Smith  be- 
lieved the  kind  lady  intended,  he  might  have  been 
a  great  Bashaw  and  a  mighty  man  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  and  we   might  never  have  heard  of  Poca- 


30  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  24 

hontas.  In  sending  him  to  her  brother,  it  was  her 
intention,  for  she  told  him  so,  that  he  should  only 
sojourn  in  Nalbrits  long  enough  to  learn  the  lan- 
guage, and  what  it  was  to  be  a  Turk,  till  time  made 
her  master  of  herself.  Smith  himself  does  not  dis- 
sent from  this  plan  to  metamorphose  him  into  a 
Turk  and  the  husband  of  the  beautiful  Charatza 
Tragabigzanda.  He  had  no  doubt  that  he  was 
commended  to  the  kindest  treatment  by  her  broth- 
er; but  Tymor  ''  diverted  all  this  to  the  worst  of 
cruelty."  Within  an  hour  of  his  arrival,  he  was 
stripped  naked,  his  head  and  face  shaved  as  smooth 
as  his  hand,  a  ring  of  iron,  with  a  long  stake  bowed 
like  a  sickle,  riveted  to  his  neck,  and  he  was  scantily 
clad  in  goat's  skin.  There  were  many  other  slaves, 
but  Smith  being  the  last,  was  treated  like  a  dog, 
and  made  the  slave  of  slaves. 

The  geographer  is  not  able  to  follow  Captain 
Smith  to  Nalbrits.  Perhaps  Smith  himself  would 
have  been  puzzled  to  make  a  map  of  his  own  ca- 
reer after  he  left  Varna  and  passed  the  Black  Sea 
and  came  through  the  straits  of  Niger  into  the  Sea 
Disbacca,  by  some  called  the  Lake  Moetis,  and 
then  sailed  some  days  up  the  River  Bruapo  to  Cam- 
bria, and  two  days  more  to  Nalbrits,  where  the  Ty- 
mor resided. 

Smith  wrote  his  travels  in  London  nearly  thirty 
years  after,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  is 
the  result  of  his  own  observation  and  how  much  he 
appropriated  from  preceding  romances.  The  Cam- 
brians may  have  been  the  Cossacks,  but  his  de- 
scription of  their  habits  and  also  those  of  the 
"  Crym-Tartars  "  belongs  to  the  marvels  of  Mande- 
ville  and  other  wide-eyed  travelers.  Smith  fared 
very  badly  with  the  Tymor,     The  Tymor  and  his 


i6o3]  CAPTIVITY  AND    WANDERING.  3 1 

friends  ate  pillaw;  they  esteemed  "samboyses  "  and 
"  musselbits  "  great  dainties,  "  and  yet,"  exclaims 
Smith,  "  but  round  pies,  full  of  all  sorts  of  flesh 
they  can  get,  chopped  with  variety  of  herbs." 
Their  best  drink  was  "  coffa  "  and  sherbet,  which 
is  only  honey  and  water.  The  common  victual  of 
the  others  was  the  entrails  of  horses  and  "  ulgries" 
(goats  ?)  cut  up  and  boiled  in  a  caldron  with 
"cuskus,"  a  preparation  made  from  grain.  This 
was  serv^ed  in  great  bowls  set  in  the  ground,  and 
when  the  other  prisoners  had  raked  it  thoroughly 
with  their  foul  fists  the  remainder  was  given  to  the 
Christians.  The  same  dish  of  entrails  used  to  be 
served  not  many  years  ago  in  Upper  Egypt  as  a 
royal  dish  to  entertain  a  distinguised  guest. 

It  might  entertain  but  it  would  too  long  detain 
us  to  repeat  Smith's  information,  probably  all 
second-hand,  about  this  barbarous  region.  We 
must  confine  ourselves  to  the  fortunes  of  our  hero. 
All  his  hope  of  deliverance  from  thraldom  was  in 
the  love  of  Tragabigzanda,  whom  he  firmly  be- 
lieved was  ignorant  of  his  bad  usage.  But  she 
made  no  sign.  Providence  at  length  opened  a  way 
for  his  escape.  He  was  employed  in  thrashing  in 
afield  more  than  a  league  from  the  Tymor's  home. 
The  Bashaw  used  to  come  to  visit  his  slave  there, 
and  beat,  spurn,  and  revile  him.  One  day  Smith, 
unable  to  control  himself  under  these  insults, 
rushed  upon  the  Tymor,  and  beat  out  his  brains 
with  a  thrashing  bat — "  for  they  have  no  flails,"  he 
explains — put  on  the  dead  man's  clothes,  hid  the 
body  in  the  straw,  filled  a  knapsack  with  corn, 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  away  into  the  un- 
known desert,  where  he  wandered  many  days  be- 
fore he  found  a  way  out.     If  we  may  believe  Smith 


32  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  24 

this  wilderness  was  more  civilized  in  one  respect 
than  some  parts  of  our  own  land,  for  on  all  the 
crossings  of  the  roads  were  guide-boards.  After 
traveling  sixteen  days  on  the  road  that  leads  to 
Muscova,  Smith  reached  a  Muscovite  garrison  on 
the  River  Don.  The  governor  knocked  off  the  iron 
from  his  neck  and  used  him  so  kindly  that  he 
thought  himself  now  risen  from  the  dead.  With 
his  usual  good  fortune  there  was  a  lady  to  take  in- 
terest in  him — "  the  good  Lady  Callamata  largely 
supplied  all  his  wants." 

After  Smith  had  his  purse  filled  by  Sigismund  he 
made  a  thorough  tour  of  Europe,  and  passed  into 
Spain,  where  being  satisfied,  as  he  says,  with  Eu- 
rope and  Asia,  and  understanding  that  there  were 
wars  in  Barbary,  this  restless  adventurer  passed  on 
into  Morocco  with  several  comrades  on  a  French 
man-of-war.  His  observations  on  and  tales  about 
North  Africa  are  so  evidently  taken  from  the  books 
of  other  travelers  that  they  add  little  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  his  career.  For  some  reason  he  found  no 
fighting  going  on  worth  his  while.  But  good  for- 
tune attended  his  return.  He  sailed  in  a  man-of- 
war  with  Captain  Merham.  They  made  a  few  un- 
important captures,  and  at  length  fell  in  with  two 
Spanish  men-of-war,  which  gave  Smith  the  sort  of 
entertainment  he  most  coveted.  A  sort  of  running 
fight,  sometimes  at  close  quarters,  and  with  many 
boardings  and  repulses,  lasted  for  a  couple  of  days 
and  nights,  when  having  battered  each  other  thor- 
oughly and  lost  many  men,  the  pirates  of  both 
nations  separated  and  went  cruising,  no  doubt,  for 
more  profitable  game.  Our  wanderer  returned  to 
his  native  land,  seasoned  and  disciplined  for  the 
part  he  was  to  play  in  the  New  World.     As  Smith 


i6o5]  CAPTIVITY  AND    WANDERING.  33 

had  traveled  all  over  Europe  and  sojourned  in  Mo- 
rocco, besides  sailing  the  high  seas,  since  he  visited 
Prince  Sigismund  in  December,  1603,  it  was  proba- 
bly in  the  year  1605  that  he  reached  England.  He 
had  arrived  at  the  manly  age  of  twenty-six  years, 
and  was  ready  to  play  a  man's  part  in  the  wonderful 
drama  of  discovery  and  adventure  upon  which  the 
Britons  were  then  engaged. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

FIRST    ATTEMPTS    IN    VIRGINIA. 

JOHN  SMITH  has  not  chosen  to  tell  us  anything 
of  his  life  during  the  interim — perhaps  not  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half — between  his  return  from 
Morocco  and  his  setting  sail  for  Virginia.  Nor  do 
his  contemporaries  throw  any  light  upon  this  period 
of  his  life. 

One  would  like  to  know  whether  he  went  down 
to  Willoughby  and  had  a  reckoning  with  his  guard- 
ians; whether  he  found  any  relations  or  friends  of 
his  boyhood;  whether  any  portion  of  his  estate  re- 
mained of  that  "  competent  means"  which  he  says 
he  inherited,  but  which  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
available  in  his  career.  From  the  time  when  he  set 
out  for  France  in  his  fifteenth  year,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  short  sojourn  in  Willoughby  seven  or  eight 
years  after,  he  lived  by  his  wits  and  by  the  strong^ 
hand.  His  purse  was  now  and  then  replenished  by 
a  lucky  windfall,  which  enabled  him  to  extend  his 
travels  and  seek  more  adventures.  This  is  the 
impression  that  his  own  story  makes  upon  the 
reader  in  a  narrative  that  is  characterized  by  the 
boastfulness  and  exaggeration  of  the  times,  and  not 
fuller  of  the  marvelous  than  most  others  of  that 
period. 

The  London  to  w^hich  Smith  returned  was  the 
London  of  Shakespeare.  We  should  be  thankful 
for  one  glimpse  of 'him   in  this  interesting  town 


i605]       FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  35 

Did  he  frequent  the  theater  ?  Did  he  perhaps  see 
Shakespeare  himself  at  the  Globe  ?  Did  he  loaf 
in  the  coffee-houses,  and  spin  the  fine  thread  of 
his  adventures  to  the  idlers  and  gallants  who  re- 
sorted to  them  ?  If  he  dropped  in  at  any  theater  of 
an  afternoon  he  was  quite  likely  to  hear  some  allu- 
sion to  Virginia,  for  the  plays  of  the  hour  were  full 
of  chaff,  not  always  of  the  choicest,  about  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  Virgin-land,  whose  gold  was  as  plentiful 
as  copper  in  England;  where  the  prisoners  were 
fettered  in  gold,  and  the  dripping-pans  were  made 
of  it;  and  where — an  unheard-of  thing — you  might 
become  an  alderman  without  having  been  a  scav- 
enger. 

Was  Smith  an  indulger  in  that  new  medicine  for 
all  ills,  tobacco  ?  Alas  !  we  know  nothing  of  his 
habits  or  his  company.  He  was  a  man  of  piety  ac- 
cording to  his  lights,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  may 
have  had  the  then  rising  prejudice  against  theaters. 
After  his  return  from  Virginia  he  and  his  exploits 
were  the  subject  of  many  a  stage  play  and  spectacle, 
but  whether  his  vanity  was  more  flattered  by  this 
mark  of  notoriety  than  his  piety  was  offended  we 
do  not  know.  There  is  certainly  no  sort  of  evidence 
that  he  engaged  in  the  common  dissipation  of  the 
town,  nor  gave  himself  up  to  those  pleasures  which 
a  man  rescued  from  the  hardships  of  captivity  in 
Tartaria  might  be  expected  to  seek.  Mr.  Stith  says 
that  it  was  the 'testimony  of  his  fellow  soldiers  and 
adventurers  that  ''  they  never  knew  a  soldier,  before 
him,  so  free  from  those  military  vices  of  wine, 
tobacco,  debts,  dice,  and  oathes." 

But  of  one  thing  we  may  be  certain:  he  was  seek- 
ing adventure  according  to  his  nature,  and  eager 
for  any  heroic  employment;   and   it  goes  without 


36  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [itt.  26 

saying  that  he  entered  into  the  great  excitement  of 
the  day — adventure  in  America.  EUzabeth  was 
dead.  James  had  just  come  to  the  throne,  and 
Raleigh,  to  whom  Elizabeth  had  granted  an  exten- 
sive patent  of  Virginia,  was  in  the  Tower.  The 
attempts  to  make  any  permanent  lodgment  in  the 
countries  of  Virginia  had  failed.  But  at  the  date  of 
Smith's  advent  Capt.  Bartholomew  Gosnold  had  re- 
turned from  a  voyage  undertaken  in  1602  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  and  an- 
nounced that  he  had  discovered  a  direct  passage 
westward  to  the  nev\^  continent,  all  the  former 
voyagers  having  gone  by  the  way  of  the  West  Indies. 
The  effect  of  this  announcement  in  London,  accom- 
panied as  it  was  with  Gosnold's  report  of  the  fruit- 
fulness  of  the  coast  of  New  England  which  he 
explored,  w^as  something  like  that  made  upon  New 
York  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1849. 
The  route  by  the  West  Indies,  wdth  its  incidents  of 
disease  and  delay,  was  now  replaced  by  the  direct 
course  opened  by  Gosnold,  and  the  London  Ex- 
change, which  has  always  been  quick  to  scent  any 
profit  in  trade,  shared  the  excitement  of  the  distin- 
guished soldiers  and  sailors  w^ho  were  ready  to  em- 
brace any  chance  of  adventure  that  offered. 

It  is  said  that  Capt.  Gosnold  spent  several  years 
in  vain,  after  his  return,  in  soliciting  his  friends  and 
acquaintances  to  join  him  in  settling  this  fertile 
land  he  had  explored;  and  that  at  length  he  prevailed 
upon  Capt.  John  Smith,  Mr.  Edward  Maria  Wing- 
field,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Robert  Hunt,  and  others,  to  join 
him.  This  is  the  first  appearance  of  the  name  of 
Capt.  John  Smith  in  connection  with  Virginia. 
Probably  his  life  in  London  had  been  as  idle  as 
unprofitable,    and    his    purse    needed    replenishing. 


i6o6l        FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  3/ 

Here  was  a  way  open  to  the  most  honorable,  excit- 
ing, and  profitable  employment.  That  its  mere 
profit  would  h^ive  attracted  him  we  do  not  believe; 
but  its  danger,  uncertainty,  and  chance  of  distinc- 
tion would  irresistibly  appeal  to  him.  The  distinct 
object  of  the  projectors  was  to  establish  a  colony  in 
Virginia.  This  proved  too  great  an  undertaking 
for  private  persons.  After  many  vain  projects  the 
scheme  was  commended  to  several  of  the  nobility, 
gentry,  and  merchants,  who  came  into  it  heartily, 
and  the  memorable  expedition  of  1606  was  organ- 
ized. 

The  patent  under  which  this  colonization  was 
undertaken  was  obtained  from  King  James  by  the 
solicitation  of  Richard  Hakluyt  and  others.  Smith's 
name  does  not  appear  in  it,  nor  does  that  of  Gosnold 
nor  of  Capt.  Newport.  Richard  Hakluyt,  then  clerk 
prebendary  of  Westminster,  had  from  the  first  taken 
great  interest  in  the  project.  He  was  chaplain  of 
the  English  colony  in  Paris  when  Sir  Francis«Drake 
was  fitting  out  his  expedition  to  America,  and  was 
eager  to  further  it.  By  his  diligent  study  he  became 
the  best  English  geographer  of  his  time;  he  was  the 
historiographer  of  the  East  India  Company,  and 
the  best  informed  man  in  England  concerning  the 
races,  climates,  and  productions  of  all  parts  of  the 
globe.  It  was  at  Hakluyt's  suggestion  that  two 
vessels  were  sent  out  from  Plymouth  in  1603  to 
verify  Gosnold's  report  of  his  new  short  route.  A 
further  verification  of  the  feasibility  of  this  route 
was  made  by  Capt.  George  Weymouth,  who  was 
sent  out  in  1605  by  the  Earl  of  Southampton. 

The  letters-patent  of  King  James,  dated  April  10, 
1606,  licensed  the  planting  of  two  colonies  in  the 
territories   of  America   commonly  called  Virginia. 


38  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  27 

The  corporators  named  in  the  first  colony  were 
Sir  Thos.  Gates,  Sir  George  Somers,  knights,  and 
Richard  Hakluyt  and  Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  ad- 
venturers, of  the  city  of  London.  They  were  per- 
mitted to  settle  anywhere  in  territory  between  the 
34th  and  41st  degrees  of  latitude. 

The  corporators  named  in  the  second  colony  were 
Thomas  Hankam,  Raleigh  Gilbert,  William  Parker, 
and  George  Popham,  representing  Bristol,  Exeter, 
and  Plymouth,  and  the  west  counties,  who  were 
authorized  to  make  a  settlement  anywhere  between 
the  38th  and  45th  degrees  of  latitude. 

The  letters  commended  and  generously  accepted 
this  noble  work  of  colonization,  "  which  may,  by  the 
Providence  of  Almighty  God,  hereafter  tend  to  the 
glory  of  his  Divine  Majesty,  in  propagating  of 
Christian  religion  to  such  people  as  yet  live  in 
darkness  and  miserable  ignorance  of  all  true  knowl- 
edge and  worship  of  God,  and  may  in  time  bring 
the  infidels  and  savages  living  in  those  parts  to 
human  civility  and  to  a  settled  and  quiet  govern- 
ment." The  conversion  of  the  Indians  was  as  prom- 
inent an  object  in  all  these  early  adventures,  English 
or  Spanish,  as  the  relief  of  the  Christians  has  been 
in  aU  the  Russian  campaigns  against  the  Turks  in 
our  day. 

Before  following  the  fortunes  of  this  Virginia 
colony  of  1606,  to  which  John  Smith  was  attached, 
it  is  necessary  to  glance  briefly  at  the  previous 
attempt  to  make  settlements  in  this  portion  of 
America. 

Although  the  English  had  a  c^laim  upon  America, 
based  upon  the  discovery  of  Newfoundland  and  of 
the  coast  of  the  continent  from  the  38th  to  the  68th 
north  parallel  by  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1497,  they  took 


1578]       FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN   VIRGINIA.  39 

no  further  advantage  of  it  than  to  send  out  a  few 
fishing  vessels,  until  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  a  noted 
and  skillful  seaman,  took  out  letters-patent  for  dis- 
covery, bearing  date  the  nth  of  January,  1578.  Gil- 
bert was  the  half-brother  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and 
thirteen  years  his  senior.  The  brothers  were  asso- 
ciated in  the  enterprise  of  1579,  which  had  for  its 
main  object  the  possession  of  Newfoundland.  It  is 
commonly  said,  and  in  this  the  biographical  diction- 
aries follow  one  another,  that  Raleigh  accompanied 
his  brother  on  this  voyage  of  1579  and  *vvent  with 
him  to  Newfoundland.  The  fact  is  that  Gilbert  did 
not  reach  Newfoundland  on  that  voyage,  and  it  is 
open  to  doubt  if  Raleigh  started  with  him.  In 
April,  1579,  when  Gilbert  took  active  steps  under 
the  charter  of  1578,  diplomatic  difficulties  arose, 
growing  out  of  Elizabeth's  policy  with  the  Span- 
iards, and  when  Gilbert's  ships  were  ready  to  sail 
he  was  stopped  by  an  order  from  the  council.  Little 
is  known  of  this  unsuccessful  attempt  of  Gilbert's. 
He  did,  after  many  delays,  put  to  sea,  and  one  of 
his  contemporaries,  John  Hooker,  the  antiquarian, 
says  that  Raleigh  was  one  of  the  assured  friends 
that  accompanied  him.  But  he  was  shortly  after 
driven  back,  probably  from  an  encounter  with  the 
Spaniards,  and  returned  with  the  loss  of  a  tall  ship. 
Raleigh  had  no  sooner  made  good  his  footing  at 
the  court  of  Elizabeth  than  he  joined  Sir  Humphrey 
in  a  new  adventure.  But  the  Queen  peremptorily 
retained  Raleigh  at  court,  to  prevent  his  incurring 
the  risks  of  any  "dangerous  sea-fights."  To  pre- 
vent Gilbert  from  embarking  on  this  new  voyage 
seems  to  have  been  the  device  of  the  council  rather 
than  the  Queen,  for  she  assured  Gilbert  of  her  good 
wishes,  and  desired  him,  on  his  departure,  to  give 


40  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1583 

his  picture  to  Raleigh  for  her,  and  she  contributed 
to  the  large  sums  raised  to  meet  expenses  "  an 
anchor  guarded  by  a  lady,"  which  the  sailor  was  to 
wear  at  his  breast.  Raleigh  risked  ^2000  in  the 
venture,  and  equipped  a  ship  which  bore  his  name, 
but  which  had  ill  luck.  An  infectious  fever  broke 
out  among  the  crew,  and  the  "  Ark  Raleigh"  re- 
turned to  Plymouth.  Sir  Humphrey  wrote  to  his 
brother  admiral.  Sir  George  Peckham,  indignantly 
of  this  desertion,  the  reason  for  which  he  did  not 
know,  and  then  proceeded  on  his  voyage  with  his 
four  remaining  ships.  This  was  on  the  nth  of  Jan- 
uary, 1583.  The  expedition  was  so  far  successful 
that  Gilbert  took  formal  possession  of  Newfound- 
land for  the  Queen.  But  a  fatality  attended  his 
further  explorations:  the  gallant  admiral  went 
down  at  sea  in  a  storm  off'  our  coast,  with  his  crew, 
heroic  and  full  of  Christian  faith  to  the  last,  utter- 
ing, it  is  reported,  this  courageous  consolation  to 
his  comrades  at  the  last  moment:  "Be  of  good 
heart,  my  friends.  We  are  as  near  to  heaven  by 
sea  as  by  land." 

In  September,  1583,  a  surviving  ship  brought  news 
of  the  disaster  to  Falmouth.  Raleigh  was  not 
discouraged.  Within  six  months  of  this  loss  he 
had  on  foot  another  enterprise.  His  brother's 
patent  had  expired.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1584, 
he  obtained  from  Elizabeth  a  new  charter  with 
larger  powers,  incorporating  himself,  Adrian  Gilbert, 
brother  of  Sir  Humphrey,  and  John  Dav3's,  under 
the  title  of  *'  The  College  of  the  Fellowship  for 
the  Discovery  of  the  North-west  Passage.  '  But 
Raleigh's  object  was  colonization.  Within  a  few 
days  after  his  charter  was  issued  he  dispatched  two 
captains,  Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur  Barlow,  who 


1584]  FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  4I 

in  July  of  that  year  took  possession  of  the  island  of 
Roanoke. 

The  name  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  intimately 
associated  with  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  it  is  the 
popular  impression  that  he  personally  assisted  in 
the  discovery  of  the  one  and  the  settlement  of  the 
other.  But  there  is  no  more  foundation  for  the 
belief  that  he  ever  visited  the  territory  of  Virginia, 
of  which  he  was  styled  governor,  than  that  he  ac- 
companied Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  to  Newfoundland. 
An  allusion  by  William  Strachey,  in  his  "  Historic 
of  Travaile  into  Virginia,"  hastily  read,  may  have 
misled  some  writers.  He  speaks  of  an  expedition 
southward,  "  to  some  parts  of  Chawonock  and 
the  Mangoangs,  to  search  them  there  left  by  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh."  But  his  further  sketch  of  the 
various  prior  expeditions  shows  that  he  meant 
to  speak  of  settlers  left  by  Sir  Ralph  Lane  and 
other  agents  of  Raleigh  in  colonization.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  never  saw  any  portion  of  the  coast  of  the 
United  States.  In  1592  he  planned  an  attack  upon 
the  Spanish  possessions  of  Panama,  but  his  plans 
were  frustrated.  His  only  personal  expedition  to 
the  New  World  was  that  to  Guana  in  1595. 

The  expedition  of  Capt.  Amadas  and  Capt.  Bar- 
low is  described  by  Capt.  Smith  in  his  compilation 
called  the  "  General  Historic,"  and  by  Mr.  Strachey. 
They  set  sail  April  27,  1584,  from  the  Thames.  On 
the  2d  of  July  they  fell  with  the  coast  of  Florida, 
in  shoal  water,  "  where  they  felt  a  most  delicate 
sweet  smell,"  but  saw  no  land.  Presently  land  ap- 
peared, which  they  took  to  be  the  continent,  and 
coasted  along  to  the  northw.ard  a  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  before  finding  a  harbor.  Entering  the 
first  opening,  they  landed  on  what  proved  to  be  the 


42  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1584 

Island  of  Roanoke.  The  landing-place  was  sandy 
and  low,  but  so  productive  of  grapes  or  vines  over- 
running everything,  that  the  very  surge  of  the  sea 
sometimes  overflowed  them.  The  tallest  and  red- 
dest cedars  in  the  world  grew  there,  with  pines, 
cypresses,  and  other  trees,  and  in  the  woods  plenty 
of  deer,  conies,  and  fowls  in  incredible  abundance. 

After  a  few  days  the  natives  came  off  in  boats  to 
visit  them,  proper  people  and  civil  in  their  behav- 
ior, bringing  with  them  the  King's  brother,  Granga- 
nameo  (Quangimino,  says  Strachey).  The  name  of 
the  King  was  Winginia,  and  of  the  country  Win- 
gandacoa.  The  name  of  this  King  might  have  sug- 
gested that  of  Virginia  as  the  title  of  the  new  pos- 
session, but  for  the  superior  claim  of  the  Virgin 
Queen.  Granganameo  was  a  friendly  savage  who 
liked  to  trade.  The  first  thing  he  took  a  fancy  to 
was  a  pewter  dish,  and  he  made  a  hole  through  it 
and  hung  it  about  his  neck  for  a  breastplate.  The 
liberal  Christians  sold  it  to  him  for  the  low  price  of 
twenty  deer-skins,  worth  twenty  crowns,  and  they 
also  let  him  have  a  copper  kettle  for  fifty  skins. 
They  drove  a  lively  traffic  with  the  savages  for 
much  of  such  "  truck,"  and  the  chief  came  on  board 
and  ate  and  drank  merrily  with  the  strangers.  His 
wife  and  children,  short  of  stature  but  well-formed 
and  bashful,  also  paid  them  a  visit.  She  wore  a 
long  coat  of  leather,  with  a  piece  of  leather  about 
her  loins,  around  her  forehead  a  band  of  white  coral, 
and  from  her  ears  bracelets  of  pearls  of  the  bigness 
of  great  peas  hung  down  to  her  middle.  The  other 
women  wore  pendants  of  copper,  as  did  the  chil- 
dren, five  or  six  in  an  ear.  The  boats  of  these  sav- 
ages were  hollowed  trunks  of  trees.  Nothing  could 
exceed   the  kindness  and   trustfulness  the  Indians 


1584]         FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  43 

exhibited  towards  their  visitors.  They  kept  them 
supplied  with  game  and  fruits,  and  when  a  party- 
made  an  expedition  inland  to  the  residence  of  Gran- 
ganameo,  his  wife  (her  husband  being  absent)  came 
running  to  the  river  to  welcome  them;  took  them 
to  her  house  and  set  them  before  a  great  fire;  took  oii 
their  clothes  and  washed  them;  removed  the  stock- 
ings of  some  and  w^ashed  their  feet  in  warm  water; 
set  plenty  of  victual,  venison  and  fish  and  fruits, 
before  them,  and  took  pains  to  see  all  things  well 
ordered  for  their  comfort.  "  More  love  they  could 
not  express  to  entertain  us."  It  is  noted  that  these 
savages  drank  wine  while  the  grape  lasted.  The 
visitors  returned  all  this  kindness  with  suspicion. 
They  insisted  upon  retiring  to  their  boats  at  night 
instead  of  lodging  in  the  house,  and  the  good 
woman,  much  grieved  at  their  jealousy,  sent  down 
to  them  their  half-cooked  supper,  pots  and  all,  and 
mats  to  cover  them  from  the  rain  in  the  night,  and 
caused  several  of  her  men  and  thirty  women  to  sit 
all  night  on  the  shore  over  against  them.  "A  more 
kind,  loving  people  cannot  be,"  say  the  voyagers. 

In  September  the  expedition  returned  to  England, 
taking  specimens  of  the  wealth  of  the  country,  and 
some  of  the  pearls  as  big  as  peas,  and  two  natives, 
Wanchese  and  Manteo.  The  "  Iprd  proprietary" 
obtained  the  Queen's  permission  to  name  the  new 
lands  "  Virginia,"  in  her  honor,  and  he  had  a  new 
seal  of  his  arms  cut,  with  the  legend,  Propria  insig- 
nia Walteri  Ralegh,  militis,  Do?nini  et  Gubernatoris  Vir- 
ginia. 

The  enticing  reports  brought  back  of  the  fertility 
of  this  land,  and  the  amiability  of  its  pearl-decked 
inhabitants,  determined  Raleigh  at  once  to  establish 
a  colony  there,  in  the  hope  of  the  ultimate  salvation 


44  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1585 

of  the  "poor  seduced  infidell "  who  wore  the  pearls. 
A  fleet  of  seven  vessels,  with  one  hundred  house- 
holders, and  many  things  necessary  to  begin  a  new 
state,  departed  from  Plymouth  in  April,  1585.  Sir 
Richard  Grenville  had  command  of  the  expedition, 
and  Mr.  Ralph  Lane  was  made  governor  of  the  col- 
ony, with  Philip  Amadas  for  his  deputy.  Among 
the  distinguished  men  who  accompanied  them  were 
Thomas  Hariot,  the  mathematician,  and  Thomias 
Cavendish,  the  naval  discoverer.  The  expedition 
encountered  as  many  fatalities  as  those  that  be- 
fell Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert;  and  Sir  Richard  was 
destined  also  to  an  early  and  memorable  death.* 
But  the  new  colony  suffered  more  from  its  own  im- 
prudence and  want  of  harmony  than  from  natural 
causes. 

In  August,  Grenville  left  Ralph  Lane  in  charge  of 
the  colony  and  returned  to  England,  capturing  a 
Spanish  ship  on  the  way.  The  colonists  pushed  dis- 
coveries in  various  directions,  but  soon  found  them- 
selves involved  in  quarrels  with  the  Indians,  whose 
conduct  was  less  friendly  than  formerly,  a  change 
partly  due  to  the  greed  of  the  whites.  In  June, 
when  Lane  was  in  fear  of  a  conspiracy  which  he  had 
discovered  against  the  life  of  the  colony,  and  it  was 

*  Sir  Richard  Grenville  in  1591  was  vice-admiral  of  a  fleet, 
under  command  of  Lord  Thomas  Howard,  at  the  Azores,  sent 
against  a  Spanish  Plate-fleet.  Six  English  vessels  were  sud- 
denly opposed  by  a  Spanish  convoy  of  53  ships  of  war.  Left 
behind  his  comrades,  in  embarking  from  an  island,  opposed  by 
five  galleons,  he  maintained  a  terrible  fight  for  fifteen  hours,  his 
vessel  all  cut  to  pieces,  and  his  men  nearly  all  slain.  He  died 
uttering  aloud  these  words:  "  Here  dies  Sir  Richard  Grenville, 
with  a  joyful  and  quiet  mind,  for  that  I  have  ended  my  life  as  a 
true  soldier  ought  to  do,  fighting  for  his  country,  queen,  relig- 
ion, and  honor." 


1585]         FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  45 

short  of  supplies,  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared  off 
Roanoke,  returning  homeward  with  his  fleet  from 
the  sacking  of  St.  Domingo,  Carthagena,  and  St. 
Aueustine.  Lane,  without  waitinsf  for  succor  from 
luigland,  persuaded  Drake  to  take  him  and  all  the 
colony  back  home.  Meantime  Raleigh,  knowing 
that  the  colony  would  probably  need  aid,  was  pre- 
paring a  fleet  of  three  well-appointed  ships  to  ac- 
company Sir  Richard  Grenville,  and  an  "advice 
ship,"  plentifully  freighted,  to  send  in  advance  to 
give  intelligence  of  his  coming.  Great  was  Gren- 
ville's  chagrin,  when  he  reached  Hatorask,  to  find 
that  the  advice  boat  had  arrived,  and  finding  no  col- 
ony, had  departed  again  for  England.  However, 
he  established  fifteen  men  ("fifty,"  says  the  "Gen- 
eral Historic")  on  the  island,  provisioned  for  two 
years,  and  then  returned  home. 

Mr.  Ralph  Lane's  colony  was  splendidly  fitted 
out,  much  better  furnished  than  the  one  that  New- 
port, Wingfield,  and  Gosnold  conducted  to  the 
River  James  in  1607;  but  it  needed  a  man  at  the 
head  of  it.  If  the  governor  had  possessed  Smith's 
pluck,  he  would  have  held  on  till  the  arrival  of 
Grenville. 

Lane  did  not  distinguish  himself  in  the  conduct 
of  this  governorship,  but  he  nevertheless,  gained  im- 
mortalit3^  For  he  is  credited  with  first  bringing 
into  England  that  valuable  medicinal  weed,  called 
tobacco,  which  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  made  fashion- 
able, not  in  its  capacity  to  drive  "  rheums  "  out  of 
the  body,  but  as  a  soother,  when  burned  in  the  bowd 
of  a  pipe  and  drawn  through  the  stem  in  smoke,  of 
the  melancholy  spirit. 

The  honor  of  introducing  tobacco  at  this  date  is 
so  large  that  it  has  been  shared  by  three  persons — 


46  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1585 

Sir  Francis  Drake,  who  brought  Mr.  Lane  home; 
Mr.  Lane,  who  carried  the  precious  result  of  his  so- 
journ in  America;  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  w^ho 
commended  it  to  the  use  of  the  ladies  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  court. 

But  this  was  by  no  means  its  first  appearance  in 
Europe.  It  was  already  known  in  Spain,  in  France, 
and  in  Italy,  and  no  doubt  had  begun  to  make  its 
way  in  the  Orient.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century 
the  Spaniards  had  discovered  its  virtues.  It  is 
stated  by  John  Neander,  in  his  "  Tobaco  Logia," 
published  in  Leyden  in  1626,  that  Tobaco  took  its 
name  from  a  province  in  Yucatan,  conquered  by 
Fernando  Cortez  in  1519.  The  name  Nicotiana  he 
derives  from  D.  Johanne  Nicotino  Nemansensi,  of 
the  council  of  Francis  II.,  who  first  introduced  the 
plant  into  France.  At  the  date  of  this  volume 
(1626)  tobacco  was  in  general  use  all  over  Europe 
and  in  the  East.  Pictures  are  given  of  the  Persian 
water  pipes,  and  descriptions  of  the  mode  of  pre- 
paring it  for  use.  There  are  reports  and  traditions 
of  a  very  ancient  use  of  tobacco  in  Persia  and  in 
China,  as  well  as  in  India,  but  we  are  convinced 
that  the  substance  supposed  to  be  tobacco,  and  to 
be  referred  to  as  such  by  many  writers,  and  described 
as  "  intoxicating,"  was  really  India  hemp,  or  some 
plant  very  different  from  the  tobacco  of  the  New 
World.  At  any  rate  there  is  evidence  that  in  the 
Turkish  Empire  as  late  as  16 16  tobacco  was  still 
somewhat  a  novelty,  and  the  smoking  of  it  was  re- 
garded as  vile,  and  a  habit  only  of  the  low.  The 
late  Hekekian  Bey,  foreign  minister  of  old  Mahomet 
Ali,  possessed  an  ancient  Turkish  MS.  which  related 
an  occurrence  at  Smyrna  about  the  year  1610,  name- 
ly, the  punishment  of  some  sailors  for  the  use  of 


15S5]         FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  47 

tobacco,  which  showed  that  it  was  a  novelty  and 
accounted  a  low  vice  at  that  time.  The  testimony 
of  the  trustworthy  George  Sandys,  an  English  trav- 
eler into  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Syria  in  1610  (after- 
wards, 162 1,  treasurer  of  the  colony  in  Virginia),  is 
to  the  same  effect  as  given  in  his  "  Relation,"  pub- 
lished in  London  in  162 1.  In  his  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  people  and  manners  of  Constantinople, 
after  speaking  of  opium,  which  makes  the  Turks 
"  giddy-headed  "  and  *'  turbulent  dreamers,"  he  says: 
"  But  perhaps  for  the  self-same  cause  they  delight 
in  Tobacco:  which  they  take  through  reedes  that 
have  joyned  with  them  great  heads  of  wood  to  con- 
taine  it,  I  doubt  not  but  lately  taught  them  as 
brought  them  by  the  English;  and  were  it  not 
sometimes  lookt  into  (for  Morat  Bassa  [Murad  III.  ?] 
not  long  since  commanded  a  pipe  to  be  thrust 
through  the  nose  of  a  Turke,  and  to  be  led  in  deri- 
sion through  the  Citie),  no  question  but  it  would 
prove  a  principall  commodity.  Nevertheless  they 
will  take  it  in  corners;  and  are  so  ignorant  therein, 
that  that  which  in  England  is  not  saleable,  doth 
passe  here  among  them  for  most  excellent." 

Mr.  Stith  ("History  of  Virginia,"  1746)  gives 
Raleigh  credit  for  the  introduction  of  the  pipe  into 
good  society,  but  he  cautiously  says,  "  We  are  not 
informed  whether  the  queen  made  use  of  it  herself: 
but  it  is  certain  she  gave  great  countenance  to  it  as 
a  vegetable  of  singular  strength  and  power,  which 
might  therefore  prove  of  benefit  to  mankind,  and 
advantage  to  the  nation."  Mr.  Thomas  Hariot,  in 
his  observations  on  the  colony  at  Roanoke,  says 
that  the  natives  esteemed  their  tobacco,  of  which 
plenty  was  found,  their  "chief  physicke." 

It  should  be  noted,  as  against  the  claim  of  Lane, 


4S  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1585 

that  Stowe  in  his  "  Annales  "  (1615)  says:  "Tobacco 
was  first  brought  and  made  known  in  England  by 
Sir  John   Hawkins,  about  the  year   1565,  but   not 
used  by  Englishmen  in  man}'^  years  after,  though  at 
this  time  commonly  used  by  most  men  and  many 
women."     In  a  side-note  to  the  edition  of  1631  we 
read:  "  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  the  first  that  brought 
tobacco   in   use,  when  all   men   wondered   what    it 
meant."     It  was  first  commended  for  its  medicinal 
virtues.     Harrison's  "  Chronologic,"  under  date  of 
1573,  says:  "In   these  dales   the   taking    in    of  the 
smoke  of  the   Indian   herbe  called  *  Tabaco '  by  an 
instrument   formed   like   a   little   ladell,  whereby  it 
passeth  from  the  mouth  into  the  hed  and  stomach, 
is  gretlie   taken-up  and   used   in   England,  against 
Rewmes  and  some  other  diseases  ingendred  in  the 
longes  and   inward  partes,  and  not  without  effect." 
But  Barnaby  Rich,  in  "The  Honestie  of  this  Age," 
1614,   disagrees   with    Harrison    about    its    benefit: 
"  They  say  it   is   good   for  a  cold,  for  a  pose,  for 
rewmes,  for  aches,   for  dropsies,  and  for  all  man- 
ner of  diseases  proceeding  of  moyst  humours;  but 
I  cannot   see  but  that  those  that  do  take  it  fastest 
are  as    much    (or    more)   subject  to  all  these  infir- 
mities (yea,  and    to  the  poxe  itself)  as  those   that 
have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  it."     He  learns  that 
7000  shops  in  London  live  by  the  trade  of  tobacco- 
selling,    and    calculates    that    there    is    paid    for    it 
^399,375   a    year,  "all    spent    in    smoake."     Every 
base  groom  must  have  his  pipe  with  his  pot  of  ale; 
it  "is  vendible  in  every  taverne,  inne,  and  ale-house; 
and  as  for  apothecaries  shops,  grosers  shops,  chand- 
lers shops,  they  are  (almost)  never  without  company 
that,  from  morning  till  night,  are  still  taking  of  to- 
bacco,"    Numbers    of    houses   and    shops    had    no 


1585]         FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  49 

Other  trade  to  live  by.  The  wrath  of  King  James 
was  probably  never  cooled  against  tobacco,  but  the 
expression  of  it  was  somewhat  tempered  when  he 
perceived  what  a  source  of  revenue  it  became. 

The  savages  of  North  America  gave  early  evidence 
of  the  possession  of  imaginative  minds,  of  rare 
power  of  invention,  and  of  an  amiable  desire  to 
make  satisfactory  replies  to  the  inquiries  of  their 
visitors.  They  generally  told  their  questioners  what 
they  wanted  to  know,  if  they  could  ascertain  what 
sort  of  information  would  please  them.  If  they  had 
known  the  taste  of  the  sixteenth  century  for  the 
marvelous  they  could  not  have  responded  more  fitly 
to  suit  it.  They  filled  Mr.  Lane  and  Mr.  Hariot  full 
of  tales  of  a  wonderful  copper  mine  on  the  River 
Maratock  (Roanoke),  where  the  metal  was  dipped 
out  of  the  stream  in  great  bowls.  The  colonists 
had  great  hopes  of  this  river,  which  Mr.  Hariot 
thought  flowed  out  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  or  very 
near  the  South  Sea.  The  Indians  also  conveyed  to 
the  mind  of  this  sagacious  observer  the  notion  that 
they  had  a  very  respectably  developed  religion;  that 
they  believed  in  one  chief  god  who  existed  from  all 
eternity,  and  who  made  many  gods  of  less  degree; 
that  for  mankind  a  woman  was  first  created,  who 
by  one  of  the  gods  brought  forth  children;  that  they 
believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  that  for 
good  works  a  soul  will  be  conveyed  to  bliss  in  the 
tabernacles  of  the  gods,  and  for  bad  deeds  to  poko- 
gusso,  a  great  pit  in  the  furthest  part  of  the  world, 
where  the  sun  sets,  and  v/here  they  burn  continual- 
ly. The  Indians  knew  this  because  two  men  lately 
dead  had  revived  and  come  back  to  tell  them  of  the 
other  world.  These  stories,  and  many  others  of 
like  kind,  the  Indians  told  of  themselves,  and  they 


50  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1587 

further  pleased  Mr.  Hariot  by  kissing  his  Bible  and 
rubbing  it  all  over  their  bodies,  notwithstanding  he 
told  them  there  was  no  virtue  in  the  material  book 
itself,  only  in  its  doctrines.  We  must  do  Mr.  Hariot 
the  justice  to  say,  however,  that  he  had  some  little 
suspicion  of  the  "  subtiltie  "  of  the  weroances  (chiefs) 
and  the  priests. 

Raleigh  was  not  easily  discouraged;  he  was  de- 
termined to  plant  his  colony,  and  to  send  relief  to 
the  handful  of  men  that  Grenville  had  left  on 
Roanoke  Island.  In  May,  1587,  he  sent  out  three 
ships  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  householders,  under 
command  of  Mr.  John  White,  who  was  appointed 
Governor  of  the  colony,  with  twelve  assistants  as  a 
Council,  who  were  incorporated  under  the  name 
of  "The  Governor  and  Assistants  of  the  City  of 
Ralegh  in  Virginia,"  with  instructions  to  change 
their  settlement  to  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  expedi- 
tion found  there  no  one  of  the  colony  (whether  it 
was  fifty  or  fifteen  the  writers  disagree),  nothing 
but  the  bones  of  one  man  where  the  plantation  had 
been;  the  houses  were  unhurt,  but  overgrown  with 
weeds,  and  the  fort  was  defaced.  Capt.  Stafford, 
with  twenty  men,  went  to  Croatan  to  seek  the  lost 
colonists.  He  heard  that  the  fifty  had  been  set 
upon  by  three  hundred  Indians,  and,  after  a  sharp 
skirmish  and  the  loss  of  one  man,  had  taken  boats 
and  gone  to  a  small  island  near  Hatorask,  and  after- 
wards had  departed  no  one  knew  whither. 

Mr.  White  sent  a  band  to  take  revenge  upon  the 
Indians  who  were  suspected  of  their  murder  through 
treachery,  which  was  guided  by  Mateo,  the  friendly 
Indian,  who  had  returned  with  the  expedition  from 
England.  By  a  mistake  they  attacked  a  friendly 
tribe.      In  August  of  this  year  Mateo  was  Chris- 


1589-90]    FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  5 1 

tianized,  and  baptized  under  the  title  of  Lord  of 
Roanoke  and  Dassomonpeake,  as  a  reward  for  his 
fidelity.  The  same  month  Elinor,  the  daughter  of 
the  Governor,  the  wife  of  Ananias  Dare,  gave  birth 
to  a  daughter,  the  first  white  child  born  in  this  part 
of  the  continent,  who  was  named  Virginia. 

Before  long  a  dispute  arose  between  the  Governor 
and  his  Council  as  to  the  proper  person  to  return  to 
England  for  supplies.  White  himself  was  finally 
prevailed  upon  to  go,  and  he  departed,  leaving 
about  a  hundred  settlers  on  one  of  the  islands  of 
Hatorask  to  form  a  plantation. 

The  Spanish  invasion  and  the  Armada  distracted 
the  attention  of  Europe  about  this  time,  and  the 
hope  of  plunder  from  Spanish  vessels  was  more 
attractive  than  the  colonization  of  America.  It  was 
not  until  1590  that  Raleigh  was  able  to  dispatch 
vessels  to  the  relief  of  the  Hatorask  colony,  and 
then  it  was  too  late.  White  did,  indeed,  start  out 
from  Biddeford  in  April,  1588,  with  two  vessels,  but 
the  temptation  to  chase  prizes  was  too  strong  for 
him,  and  he  went  on  a  cruise  of  his  own,  and  left 
the  colony  to  its  destruction. 

In  March,  1589-90,  Mr.  White  was  again  sent  out, 
with  three  ships,  from  Plymouth,  and  reached  the 
coast  in  August.  Sailing  by  Croatan  they  went  to 
Hatorask,  where  they  descried  a  smoke  in  the  place 
they  had  left  the  colony  in  1587.  Going  ashore 
next  day,  they  found  no  man,  nor  sign  that  any  had 
been  there  lately.  Preparing  to  go  to  Roanoke 
next  day,  a  boat  was  upset  and  Capt.  Spicer  and 
six  of  the  crew  were  drowned.  This  accident  so 
discouraged  the  sailors  that  they  could  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  enter  on  the  search  for  the  colony. 
At  last  two  boats,  with  nineteen  men,  set  out  for 


52  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1590 

Hatorask,  and  landed  at  that  part  of  Roanoke  where 
the  colony  had  been  left.  When  White  left  the 
colony  three  years  before,  the  men  had  talked  of 
going  fifty  miles  into  the  mainland,  and  had  agreed 
to  leave  some  sign  of  their  departure.  The  search- 
ers found  not  a  man  of  the  colony;  their  houses 
were  taken  down,  and  a  strong  palisade  had  been 
built.  All  about  were  relics  of  goods  that  had  been 
buried  and  dug  up  again  and  scattered,  and  on  a 
post  was  carved  the  name  "  Croatan."  This  sig- 
nal, which  was  accompanied  by  no  sign  of  distress, 
gave  White  hope  that  he  should  find  his  comrades 
at  Croatan.  But  one  mischance  or  another  happen- 
ing, his  provisions  being  short,  the  expedition  de- 
cided to  run  down  to  the  West  Indies  and  "  refresh" 
(chiefly  with  a  little  Spanish  plunder),  and  return  in 
the  spring  and  seek  their  countrymen;  but  instead 
they  sailed  for  England  and  never  went  to  Croatan. 
The  men  of  the  abandoned  colonies  were  never 
again  heard  of.  Years  after,  in  1602,  Raleigh  bought 
a  bark  and  sent  it,  under  the  charge  of  Samuel 
Mace,  a  mariner  who  had  been  twice  to  Virginia,  to 
go  in  search  of  the  survivors  of  White's  colony. 
Mace  spent  a  month  lounging  about  the  Hatorask 
coast  and  trading  with  the  natives,  but  did  not  land 
on  Croatan,  or  at  any  place  where  the  lost  colony 
might  be  expected  to  be  found;  but  having  taken 
on  board  some  sassafras,  which  at  that  time  brought 
a  good  price  in  England,  and  some  other  barks 
which  were  supposed  to  be  valuable,  he  basely 
shirked  the  errand  on  which  he  was  hired  to  go,  and 
took  himself  and  his  spicy  woods  home. 

The  "  Lost  Colony"  of  White  is  one  of  the  ro- 
mances of  the  New  World.  Governor  White  no 
doubt  had  the  feelings  of  a  parent,  but  he  did  not 


1590-160SJ  FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  53 

allow  them  to  interfere  with  his  more  public  duties 
to  go  in  search  of  Spanish  prizes.  If  the  lost  colony 
had  gone  to  Croatan,  it  was  probable  that  Ananias 
Dare  and  his  wife,  the  Governor's  daughter,  and  the 
little  Virginia  Dare,  were  with  them.  But  White, 
as  we  have  seen,  had  such  confidence  in  Providence 
that  he  left  his  dear  relatives  to  its  care,  and  made 
no  attempt  to  visit  Croatan. 

Stith  sa3^s  that  Raleigh  sent  five  several  times  to 
search  for  the  lost,  but  the  searchers  returned  with 
only  idle  reports  and  frivolous  allegations.  Tradi- 
tion, however,  has  been  busy  with  the  fate  of  these 
deserted  colonists.  One  of  the  unsupported  con- 
jectures is  that  the  colonists  amalgamated  with  the 
tribe  of  Hatteras  Indians,  and  Indian  tradition  and 
the  physical  characteristics  of  the  tribe  are  said  to 
confirm  this  idea.  But  the  sporadic  birth  of  chil- 
dren with  white  skins  (albinos)  among  black  or 
copper-colored  races  that  have  had  no  intercourse 
with  white  people,  and  the  occurrence  of  light  hair 
and  blue  eyes  among  the  native  races  of  America 
and  of  New  Guinea,  are  facts  so  well  attested  that 
no  theory  of  amalgamation  can  be  sustained  by  such 
rare  physical  manifestations.*  According  to  Captain 
John  Smith,  who  wrote  of  Captain  Newport's  explo- 
rations in  1608,  there  were  no  tiding  of  the  waifs, 
for,  says  Smith,  Newport  returned  "without  a  lump 
of  gold,  a  certainty  of  the  South  Sea,  or  one  of  the 
lost  company  sent  out  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh." 

In  his  voyage  of  discovery  up  the  Chickahominy, 
Smith  seems  to  have  inquired  about  this  lost  colony 
of  King  Paspahegh,  for  he  says,  "  what  he  knew  of 
the  dominions  he  spared  not  to  acquaint  me  with, 

"■  Among  these  Hatteras  Indians   Captain   Amidas,  in  1584, 
saw  children  with  chestnut-colored  hair. 


54  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [i 590-1610 

as  of  certaine  men  cloathed  at  a  place  called  Ocan> 
ahonan,  cloathed  like  me." 

We  come  somewhat  nearer  to  this  matter  in  the 
"  Historic  of  Travaile  into  Virginia  Britannia,"  pub- 
lished from  the  manuscript  by  the  Hakluyt  Society 
in  1849,  in  which  it  is  intimated  that  seven  of  these 
deserted  colonists  were  afterwards  rescued.  Strachey 
is  a  first-rate  authority  for  what  he  saw.  He  ar- 
rived in  Virginia  in  16 10  and  remained  there  two 
years,  as  secretary  of  the  colony,  and  was  a  man  of 
importance.  His  "  Historic"  was  probably  written 
between  16 12  and  16 16.  In  the  first  portion  of  it, 
which  is  descriptive  of  the  territory  of  Virginia,  is 
this  important  passage:  "At  Peccarecamek  and 
Ochanahoen,  by  the  relation  of  Machumps,  the 
people  have  houses  built  with  stone  walls,  and  one 
story  above  another,  so  taught  them  by  those  English 
who  escaped  the  slaughter  at  Roanoke.  At  what  time 
this  our  colony,  under  the  cohduct  of  Captain  New- 
port, landed  within  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  the 
people  breed  up  tame  turkies  about  their  houses, 
and  take  apes  in  the  mountains,  and  where,  at  Rit- 
anoe,  the  Weroance  Eyanaco  preserved  seven  of  the 
English  alive — four  men,  two  boys,  and  one  young  maid 
(who  escaped  [that  is  from  Roanoke]  and  fled  up 
the  river  of  Chanoke),  to  beat  his  copper,  of  which 
he  hath  certain  mines  at  the  said  Ritanoe,  as  also  at 
Pamawauk  are  said  to  be  store  of  salt  stones." 

This,  it  will  be  observed,  is  on  the  testimony  of 

Machumps.     This  pleasing  story  is  not  mentioned 

in  Captain  Newport's  "Discoveries"  (May,  1607).* 

*  "Captain  Newport's  Discoveries,  Virginia.  A  Relatyon  of 
the  Discovery  of  our  River,  from  James  Forte  into  the  Maine; 
made  by  Captain  Christopher  Newport,  and  sincerely  wriUen 
and  observed  by  a  gentleman  of  the  colony."  "  Archseologia 
Americana,"  vol.  iv.  p.  40.     The  writer  of  this  interesting  "  Re- 


1590-1610]   FIRST  ATTEMPTS  IN    VIRGINIA.  55 

Machumps,  who  was  the  brother  of  Winganuske, 
one  of  the  many  wives  of  Powhatan,  had  been  in 
England.  He  was  evidently  a  lively  Indian.  Strachey 
had  heard  him  repeat  the  "  Indian  grace,"  a  sort  of 
incantation  before  meat,  at  the  table  of  Sir  Thomas 
Dale.  If  he  did  not  differ  from  his  red  brothers  he 
had  a  powerful  imagination,  and  was  ready  to  please 
the  whites  with  any  sort  of  a  marvelous  tale.  New- 
port himself  does  not  appear  to  have  seen  any  of 
the  "apes  taken  in  the  mountains."  If  this  story  is 
to  be  accepted  as  true  we  have  to  think  of  Virginia 
Dare  as  growing  up  to  be  a  woman  of  twenty  years, 
perhaps  as  other  white  maidens  have  been,  Indian- 
ized  and  the  wife  of  a  native.  But  the  story  rests 
only  upon  a  romancing  Indian.  It  is  possible  that 
Strachey  knew  more  of  the  matter  than  he  relates, 
for  in  his  history  he  speaks  again  of  those  betrayed 
people,  "  of  whose  end  you  shall  hereafter  read  in 
this  decade."  But  the  possessed  information  is  lost, 
for  it  is  not  found  in  the  remainder  of  this  "decade" 
of  his  writing,  which  is  imperfect.  Another  refer- 
ence in  Strachey  is  more  obscure  than  the  first.  He 
is  speaking  of  the  merciful  intention  of  King  James 
towards  the  Virginia  savages,  and  that  he  does  not 
intend  to  root  out  the  natives  as  the  Spaniards  did 
in  Hispaniola,  but  by  degrees  to  change  their  bar- 
barous nature,  and  inform  them  of  the  true  God 
and  the  way  to  Salvation,  and  that  his  Majesty  will 
even  spare  Powhatan  himself.  But,  he  says,  it  is 
the  intention  to  make  "  the  common  people  likewise 
to  understand,  how  that  his  Majesty  has  been  ac- 
quainted that  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  the 
first   plantation  at    Roanoke  were  by  practice   of 

latyon"  is  unknown.  It  will  hereafter  be  referred  to  as  New- 
port's "  Relation." 


$6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1590-1610 

Powhatan  (he  himself  persuaded  thereunto  by  his 
priests)  miserably  slaughtered,  without  any  offense 
given  him  either  by  the  first  planted  (who  twenty 
and  odd  years  had  peaceably  lived  intermixed  with 
those  savages,  and  were  out  of  his  territory)  or  by 
those  who  are  now  come  to  inhabit  some  parts  of 
his  distant  lands,"  etc. 

Strachey  of  course  means  the  second  plantation  and 
not  the  first,  which,  according  to  the  weight  of  au- 
thority, consisted  of  only  fifteen  men  and  no  women. 

In  George  Percy's  Discourse  concerning  Captain 
Newport's  exploration  of  the  River  James  in  1607 
(printed  in  Purchas's  "  Pilgrims  ")  is  this  sentence: 
"At  Port  Cotage,  in  our  voyage  up  the  river,  we 
saw  a  savage  boy,  about  the  age  of  ten  years,  which 
had  a  head  of  hair  of  a  perfect  yellow,  and  reasonably 
white  skin,  which  is  a  miracle  amongst  all  savages." 
Mr.  Neill,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany," says  that  this  boy  ''  was  no  doubt  the  off- 
spring of  the  colonists  left  at  Roanoke  by  White,  of 
whom  four  men,  two  boys,  and  one  young  maid 
had  been  preserved  from  slaughter  by  an  Indian 
Chief."  Under  the  circumstances,  "  no  doubt"  is  a 
very  strong  expression  for  a  historian  to  use. 

This  belief  in  the  sometime  survival  of  the  Roa- 
noke colonists,  and  their  amalgamation  with  the 
Indians,  lingered  long  in  colonial  gossip.  Lawson, 
in  his  History,  publish€Ki  in  London  in  17 18,  men- 
tions a  tradition  among  the  Hatteras  Indians,  "  that 
several  of  their  ancestors  were  white  people  and 
could  talk  from  a  book;  the  truth  of  which  is  con- 
firmed by  gray  eyes  being  among  these  Indians  and 
no  others." 

But  the  myth  of  Virginia  Dare  stands  no  chance 
beside  that  of  Pocahontas. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FIRST    PLANTING    OF    THE    COLONY. 

''T^HE  way  was  now  prepared  for  the  advent  of 
1  Capt.  John  Smith  in  Virginia.  It  is  true  that 
we  cannot  give  him  his  own  title  of  its  discoverer, 
but  the  plantation  had  been  practically  abandoned, 
all  the  colonies  had  ended  in  disaster,  all  the  gov- 
ernors and  captains  had  lacked  the  gift  of  persever- 
ance or  had  been  early  drawn  into  other  adventures, 
wholly  disposed,  in  the  language  of  Capt.  John 
White,  "  to  seek  after  purchase  and  spoils,"  and  but 
for  the  energy  and  persistence  of  Capt.  Smith  the 
expedition  of  1606  might  have  had  no  better  fate. 
It  needed  a  man  of  tenacious  will  to  hold  a  colony 
together  in  one  spot  long  enough  to  give  it  root. 
Capt,  Smith  was  that  man,  and  if  we  find  him  glory- 
ing in  his  exploits,  and  repeating  upon  single  big 
Indians  the  personal  prowess  that  distinguished  him 
in  Transylvania  and  in  the  mythical  Nalbrits,  we 
have  only  to  transfer  our  sympathy  from  the  Turks 
to  the  Sasquesahanocks  if  the  sense  of  his  heroism 
becomes  oppressive. 

Upon  the  return  of  Samuel  Mace,  mariner,  who 
was  sent  out  in  1602  to  search  for  White's  lost 
colony,  all  Raleigh's  interest  in  the  Virginia  colony 
had,  by  his  attainder,  escheated  to  the  crown.  But 
he  never  gave  up  his  faith  in  Virginia:  neither  the 
failure  of  nine  several  expeditions  nor  twelve 
years'  imprisonment  shook  it.     On  the  eve  of  his 


58  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  27 

fall  he  had  written,  '■''  I  sJiall yet  live  to  see  it  an  Eng- 
lish nation:''  and  he  lived  to  see  his  prediction  come 
true. 

The  first  or  Virginian  colony,  chartered  with  the 
Plymouth  colony  in  April,  1606,  was  at  last  organ- 
ized by  the  appointment  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  the 
chief  of  Raleigh's  assignees,  a  wealthy  London  mer- 
chant, who  had  been  ambassador  to  Persia,  and  was 
then,  or  shortly  after,  governor  of  the  East  India 
Company,  treasurer  and  president  of  the  meetings 
of  the  council  in  London;  and  by  the  assignment  of 
the  transportation  of  the  colony  to  Capt.  Christo- 
pher Newport,  a  mariner  of  experience  in  voyages 
to  the  West  Indies  and  in  plundering  the  Spaniards, 
who  had  the  power  to  appoint  different  captains 
and  mariners,  and  the  sole  charge  of  the  voyage. 
No  local  councilors  were  named  for  Virginia,  but 
to  Capt.  Newport,  Capt.  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  and 
Capt.  John  Ratcliffe  were  delivered  sealed  instruc- 
tions, to  be  opened  within  twenty-four  hours  after 
their  arrival  in  Virginia,  wherein  would  be  found  the 
names  of  the  persons  designated  for  the  Council. 

This  colony,  which  was  accompanied  by  the  pray- 
ers and  hopes  of  London,  left  the  Thames  December 
19,  1606,  in  three  vessels — the  Susan  Constant,  one 
hundred  tons,  Capt.  Newport,  with  seventy-one  per- 
sons; the  God- Speed,  forty  tons,  Capt.  Gosnold,  with 
fifty-two  persons;  and  a  pinnace  of  twenty  tons,  the 
Discovery,  Capt.  Ratcliffe,  with  twenty  persons.  The 
Mercure  Fran^ais,  Paris,  16 19,  says  some  of  the 
passengers  were  women  and  children,  but  there  is 
no  other  mention  of  women.  Of  the  persons  em- 
barked one  hundred  and  five  were  planters,  the  rest 
crews.  Among  the  planters  were  Edward  Maria 
Wingfield,   Capt.  John   Smith,  Capt.  John   Martin, 


i6o6]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF   THE   COLONY,  59 

Capt,  Gabriel  Archer,  Capt.  George  Kendall,  Mr. 
Robert  Hunt,  preacher,  and  Mr.  George  Percie, 
brother  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  subse- 
quently governor  for  a  brief  period,  and  one  of  the 
writers  from  whom  Purchas  compiled.  Most  of 
the  planters  were  shipped  as  gentlemen,  but  there 
were  four  carpenters,  twelve  laborers,  a  blacksmith, 
a  sailor,  a  barber,  a  bricklayer,  a  mason,  a  tailor,  a 
drummer,  and  a  chirurgeon. 

The  composition  of  the  colony  shows  a  serious 
purpose  of  settlement,  since  the  trades  were  mostly 
represented,  but  there  were  too  many  gentlemen  to 
make  it  a  w^orking  colony.  And,  indeed,  the  gen- 
tlemen, like  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise  in  Lon- 
don, were  probably  more  solicitous  of  discovering 
a  passage  to  the  South  Sea,  as  the  way  to  increase 
riches,  than  of  making  a  state.  They  were  instruct- 
ed to  explore  every  navigable  river  they  might  find, 
and  to  follow  the  main  branches,  which  would  prob- 
ably lead  them  in  one  direction  to  the  East  Indies 
or  South  Sea,  and  in  the  other  to  the  North-west 
Passage.  And  they  were  forcibly  reminded  that 
the  w^ay  to  prosper  was  to  be  of  one  mind,  for  their 
own  and  their  country's  good. 

This  last  advice  did  not  last  the  expedition  out  of 
sight  of  land.  They  sailed  from  Blackwell,  Decem- 
ber 19,  1606,  but  were  kept  six  weeks  on  the  coast 
of  England  by  contrary  winds.  A  crew  of  saints 
cabined  in  those  little  caravels  and  tossed  about  on 
that  coast  for  six  weeks  would  scarcely  keep  in 
good  humor.  Besides,  the  position  of  the  captains 
and  leaders  was  not  yet  defined.  Factious  quarrels 
broke  out  immediately,  and  the  expedition  would 
likely  have  broken  up  but  for  the  wise  conduct  and 
pious  exhortations  of  Mr.. Robert  Hunt,  the  preach- 


6o  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [^t.  27 

er.  This  faithful  man  was  so  ill  and  weak  that  it 
was  thought  he  could  not  recover,  yet  notwithstand- 
ing the  stormy  weather,  the  factions  on  board,  and 
although  his  home  was  almost  in  sight,  only  twelve 
miles  across  the  Downs,  he  refused  to  quit  the  ship. 
He  was  unmoved,  says  Smith,  either  by  the  weather 
or  by  "  the  scandalous  imputations  (of  some  fevvr 
little  better  than  atheists,  of  the  greatest  rank 
amongst  us)."  With  "the  water  of  his  patience" 
and  "his  godly  exhortations"  he  quenched  the 
flames  of  envy  and  dissension. 

They  took  the  old  route  by  the  West  Indies. 
George  Percy  notes  that  on  the  12th  of  February 
they  saw  a  blazing  star,  and  presently  a  storm. 
They  watered  at  the  Canaries,  traded  with  savages 
at  San  Domingo,  and  spent  three  weeks  refreshing 
themselves  among  the  islands.  The  quarrels  re- 
vived before  they  reached  the  Canaries,  and  there 
Capt.  Smith  was  seized  and  put  in  close  confinement 
for  thirteen  weeks. 

We  get  little  light  from  contemporary  writers  on 
this  quarrel.  Smith  does  not  mention  the  arrest  in 
his  "True  Relation,"  but  in  his  "  General  Historic," 
writing  of  the  time  when  they  had  been  six  weeks 
in  Virginia,  he  says:  "  Now  Captain  Smith  who  all 
this  time  from  their  departure  from  the  Canaries 
was  restrained  as  a  prisoner  upon  the  scandalous 
suggestion  of  some  of  the  chiefs  (envying  his 
repute)  who  fancied  he  intended  to  usurp  the  gov- 
ernment, murder  the  Council,  and  make  himself 
King,  that  his  confederates  were  dispersed  in  all 
three  ships,  and  that  divers  of  his  confederates  that 
revealed  it,  would  affirm  it,  for  this  he  was  commit- 
ted a  prisoner;  thirteen  weeks  he  remained  thus 
suspected,  and  by  that  time  they  should,  return  they 


i6o7]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF   THE   COLONY.         6l 

pretended  out  of  their  commiserations,  to  refer  him 
to  the  Council  in  England  to  receive  a  check,  rather 
than  by  particulating  his  designs  make  him  so 
odious  to  the  world,  as  to  touch  his  life,  or  utterly 
overthrow  his  reputation.  But  he  so  much  scorned 
their  charity  and  publically  defied  the  uttermost  of 
their  cruelty,  he  wisely  prevented  their  policies, 
though  he  could  not  suppress  their  envies,  yet  so 
well  he  demeaned  himself  in  this  business,  as  all  the 
company  did  see  his  innocency,  and  his  adversaries' 
malice,  and  those  suborned  to  accuse  him  accused 
his  accusers  of  subornation;  many  untruths  were 
alleged  against  him;  but  being  apparently  dis- 
proved, begot  a  general  hatred  in  the  hearts  of  the 
company  against  such  unjust  Commanders,  that  the 
President  was  adjudged  to  give  him  ^200,  so  that 
all  he  had  was  seized  upon,  in  part  of  satisfaction, 
which  Smith  presently  returned  to  the  store  for  the 
general  use  of  the  colony." 

Neither  in  Newport's  ''  Relatyon"  nor  in  Mr. 
Wingfield's  "  Discourse"  is  the  arrest  mentioned, 
nor  does  Strachey  speak  of  it. 

About  1629,  Smith,  in  writing  a  description  of  the 
Isle  of  Mevis  (Nevis)  in  his  "  Travels  and  Adven- 
tures," says:  "  In  this  little  [isle]  of  Mevis,  more  than 
twenty  years  agone,  I  have  remained  a  good  time 
together,  to  wod  and  water  and  refresh  my  men."  It 
is  characteristic  of  Smith's  vivid  imagination,  in  re- 
gard to  his  own  exploits,  that  he  should  speak  of  an 
expedition  in  which  he  had  no  command,  and  was 
even  a  prisoner,  in  this  style:  "  I  remained,"  and  "  my 
men."  He  goes  on:  "  Such  factions  here  we  had  as 
commonly  attend  such  voyages,  and  a  pair  of  gallows 
was  made,  but  Captaine  Smith,  for  whom  they  were 
intended,  could  not  be  persuaded  to  use  them;  but 


^2  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

not  any  one  of  the  inventors  but  their  lives  by  justice 
fell  into  his  power,  to  determine  of  at  his  pleasure, 
whom  with  much  mercy  he  favored,  that  most 
basely  and  unjustly  would  have  betrayed  him." 
And  it  is  true  that  Smith,  although  a  great  ro- 
mancer, was  often  magnanimous,  as  vain  men  are 
apt  to  be. 

King  James's  elaborate  lack  of  good  sense  had 
sent  the  expedition  to  sea  with  the  names  of  the 
Council  sealed  up  in  a  box,  not  to  be  opened  till  it 
reached  its  destination.  Consequently  there  was  no 
recognized  authority.  Smith  was  a  young  man  of 
about  twenty-eight,  vain  and  no  doubt  somewhat 
"bumptious,"  and  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  Wing- 
field  and  the  others  who  felt  his  superior  force  and 
realized  his  experience,  honestly  suspected  him  of 
designs  against  the  expedition.  He  was  the  ablest 
man  on  board,  and  no  doubt  was  aware  of  it.  That 
he  was  not  only  a  born  commander  of  men,  but 
had  the  interest  of  the  colony  at  heart,  time  was  to 
show. 

The  voyagers  disported  themselves  among  the 
luxuries  of  the  West  Indies.  At  Guadaloupe  they 
found  a  bath  so  hot  that  they  boiled  their  pork  in 
it  as  well  as  over  the  fire.  At  the  Island  of  Monaca 
they  took  from  the  bushes  with  their  hands  near 
two  hogsheads  full  of  birds  in  three  or  four  hours. 
These,  it  is  useless  to  say,  were  probably  not  the 
"barnacle  geese"  which  the  nautical  travelers  used 
to  find,  and  picture  growing  upon  bushes  and  drop- 
ping from  the  eggs,  when  they  were  ripe,  full- 
fledged  into  the  water.  The  beasts  were  fearless  of 
men.  Wild  birds  and  natives  had  to  learn  the 
whites  before  they  feared  them. 

"  In  Mevis,  Mona,  and  the  Virgin  Isles,"  says  the 


i6o7]      FIRST  PLANTING  OF   THE   COLONY.         63 

"General  Historic,"  "we  spent  some  time,  where 
with  a  lothsome  beast  like  a  crocodile,  called  a 
gwayn  [guana],  tortoises,  pellicans,  parrots,  and 
fishes,  we  feasted  daily." 

Thence  they  made  sail  in  search  of  Virginia,  but 
the  mariners  lost  their  reckoning  for  three  days  and 
made  no  land;  the  crews  were  discomfited,  and 
Captain  Ratcliffe,  of  the  pinnace,  wanted  to  up 
helm  and  return  to  England.  But  a  violent  storm, 
which  obliged  them  "  to  hull  all  night,"  drove  them 
to  the  port  desired.  On  the  26th  of  April  they  saw 
a  bit  of  land  none  of  them  had  ever  seen  before. 
This  the  first  land  they  descried,  they  named  Cape 
Henry,  in  honor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales;  as  the  op- 
posite cape  was  called  Cape  Charles,  for  the  Duke 
of  York,  afterwards  Charles  I.  Within  these  capes 
they  found  one  of  the  most  pleasant  places  in  the 
world,  majestic  navigable  rivers,  beautiful  moun- 
tains, hills  and  plains,  and  a  fruitful  and  delight- 
some land. 

Mr.  George  Percy  was  ravished  at  the  sight  of 
the  fair  meadows  and  goodly  tall  trees.  As  much  to 
his  taste  were  the  large  and  delicate  oysters,  which 
the  natives  roasted,  and  in  which  were  found  many 
pearls.  The  ground  was  covered  with  fine  and 
beautiful  strawberries,  four  times  bigger  than  those 
in  England. 

Masters  Wingfield,  Newport,  and  Gosnold,  with 
thirty  men,  went  ashore  on  Cape  Henry,  where  they 
were  suddenly  set  upon  by  savages,  who  came 
creeping  upon  all-fours  over  the  hills,  like  bears, 
with  their  bows  in  their  hands;  Captain  Archer  was 
hurt  in  both  hands,  and  a  sailor  dangerously 
wounded  in  two  places  on  his  body.  It  was  a  bad 
omen. 


64  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  2S 

The  night  of  their  arrival  they  anchored  at  Point 
Comfort,  now  Fortress  Monroe;  the  box  was 
opened  and  the  orders  read,  which  constituted 
Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  Bartholomew  Gosnold, 
John  Smith,  Christopher  Newport,  John  Ratcliffe, 
John  Martin,  and  George  Kendall  the  Council,  with 
power  to  choose  a  President  for  a  year.  Until  the 
13th  of  May  they  were  slowly  exploring  the  River 
Powhatan,  now  the  James,  seeking  a  place  for  the 
settlement.  They  selected  a  peninsula  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river,  forty  miles  from  its  mouth,  where 
there  was  good  anchorage,  and  which  could  be 
readily  fortified.  This  settlement  was  Jamestown. 
The  Council  was  thfen  sworn  in,  and  Mr.  Wingfield 
selected  President.  Smith  being  under  arrest  was 
not  sworn  in  of  the  Council,  and  an  oration  was 
made  setting  forth  the  reason  for  his  exclusion. 

When  they  had  pitched  upon  a  site  for  the  fort, 
every  man  set  to  work,  some  to  build  the  fort, 
others  to  pitch  the  tents,  fell  trees  and  make  clap- 
boards to  reload  the  ships,  others  to  make  gardens 
and  nets.  The  fort  was  in  the  form  of  a  triangle 
with  a  half-moon  at  each  corner,  intended  to  mount 
four  or  five  guns. 

President  Wingfield  appears  to  have  taken  sol- 
dierly precautions,  but  Smith  was  not  at  all  pleased 
with  him  from  the  first.  He  says  "  the  President's 
overweening  jealousy  would  admit  of  no  exercise 
at  arms,  or  fortifications  but  the  boughs  of  trees 
cast  together  in  the  form  of  a  half-moon  by  the  ex- 
traordinary pains  and  diligence  of  Captain  Ken- 
dall." He  also  says  there  was  contention  between 
Captain  Wingfield  and  Captain  Gosnold  about  the 
site  of  the  city. 

The  landing  was  made  at  Jamestown  on  the  T4th 


i6o7]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF    THE    COLONY.         65 

of  May,  according  to  Percy.  Previous  to  that  con- 
siderable explorations  were  made.  On  the  i8th  of 
April  they  launched  a  shallop,  which  they  built  the 
day  before,  and  "discovered  up  the  bay."  They 
discovered  a  river  on  the  south  side  running  into 
the  mainland,  on  the  banks  of  which  were  good 
stores  of  mussels  and  oysters,  goodly  trees,  flowers 
of  all  colors,  and  strawberries.  Returning  to  their 
ships  and  finding  the  water  shallow,  they  rowed 
over  to  a  point  of  land,  where  they  found  from  six 
to  twelve  fathoms  of  water,  which  put  them  in  good 
comfort,  therefore  they  named  that  part  of  the  land 
Cape  Comfort.  On  the  29th  they  set  up  a  cross  on 
Chesapeake  Bay,  on  Cape  Henry,  and  the  next  day 
coasted  to  the  Indian  town  of  Kecoughton,  now 
Hampton,  where  they  were  kindly  entertained. 
When  they  first  came  to  land  the  savages  made  a 
doleful  noise,  laying  their  paws  to  the  ground  and 
scratching  the  earth  with  their  nails.  This  cere- 
mony, which  was  taken  to  be  a  kind  of  idolatry, 
ended,  mats  were  brought  from  the  houses,  whereon 
the  guests  were  seated,  and  given  to  eat  bread 
made  of  maize,  and  tobacco  to  smoke.  The  savages 
also  entertained  them  with  dancing  and  singing  and 
antic  tricks  and  grimaces.  They  were  naked  except 
a  covering  of  skins  about  the  loins,  and  many  were 
painted  in  black  and  red,  with  artificial  knots  of 
lovely  colors,  beautiful  and  pleasing  to  the  eye. 
The  4th  of  May  they  were  entertained  by  the  chief 
of  Paspika,  who  favored  them  with  a  long  oration, 
making  a  foul  noise  and  vehement  in  action,  the 
purport  of  which  they  did  not  catch.  The  savages 
were  full  of  hospitality.  The  next  day  the  wero- 
ance,  or  chief,  of  Rapahanna  sent  a  messenger  to 
invite  them  to  his  seat,     His  majesty  received  them 


66  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [iEt.  28 

in  as  modest  a  proud  fashion  as  if  he  had  been  a 
prince  of  a  civil  government.  His  body  was  paint- 
ed in  crimson  and  his  face  in  blue,  and  he  wore  a 
chain  of  beads  about  his  neck  and  in  his  ears  brace- 
lets of  pearls  and  a  bird's  claw.  The  8th  of  May 
they  went  up  the  river  to  the  country  Apomatica, 
where  the  natives  received  them  in  hostile  array, 
the  chief,  with  bow  and  arrows  in  one  hand,  and  a 
pipe  of  tobacco  in  the  other,  offering  them  war  or 

peace. 

These  savages  were  as  stout  and  able  as  any 
heathen  or  Christians  in  the  world.  Mr.  Percy  said 
they  bore  their  years  well.  He  saw  among  the 
Pamunkeys  a  savage  reported  to  be  160  years  old, 
whose  eyes  were  sunk  in  his  head,  his  teeth  gone, 
his  hair  all  gray,  and  quite  a  big  beard,  white  as 
snow;  he  was  a  lusty  savage,  and  could  travel  as 
fast  as  anybody. 

The  Indians  soon  began  to  be  troublesome  in 
their  visits  to  the  plantations,  skulking  about  all 
night,  hanging  around  the  fort  by  day,  bringing 
sometimes  presents  of  deer,  but  given  to  theft  of 
small  articles,  and  showing  jealousy  of  the  occu- 
pation. The}^  murmured,  says  Percy,  at  our  plant- 
ing in  their  country.  But  worse  than  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  savages  was  the  petty  quarreling  in  the 
colony  itself. 

In  obedience  to  the  orders  to  explore  for  the 
South  Sea,  on  the  2 2d  of  May^  Newport,  Percy, 
Smith,  Archer,  and  twenty  others  were  sent  in  the 
shallop  to  explore  the  Powhatan,  or  James  River. 

Passing  by  divers  small  habitations,  and  through 
a  land  abounding  in  trees,  flowers,  and  small  fruits, 
a  river  full  of  fish,  and  of  sturgeon  such  as  the 
world    beside    has    none,    they  came,  on  the    24th,^ 


l607]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF   THE    COLONY.         67 

having  passed  the  town  of  Powhatan,  to  the  head  of 
the  river,  the  Falls,  where  they  set  up  the  cross  and 
proclaimed  King  James  of  England. 

Smith  says  in  his  "  General  Historic  "  they  reached 
Powhatan  on  the  26th.  But  Captain  Newport's 
''Relatyon  "  agrees  with  Percy's,  and  with  Smith's 
"  True  Relation."  Captain  Newport,  says  Percy, 
permitted  no  one  to  visit  Powhatan  except  himself. 

Captain  Newport's  narration  of  the  exploration 
of  the  James  is  interesting,  being  the  first  account 
we  have  of  this  historic  river.  At  the  junction  of 
the  Appomattox  and  the  James,  at  a  place  he  calls 
Wynauk,  the  natives  welcomed  them  with  rejoi- 
cing and  entertained  them  with  dances.  The  King- 
dom of  Wynauk  was  full  of  pearl-mussels.  The 
king  of  this  tribe  was  at  war  with  the  King  of 
Paspahegh.  Sixteen  miles  above  this  point,  at  an 
inlet,  perhaps  Turkey  Point,  they  were  met  by  eight 
savages  in  a  canoe,  one  of  whom  was  intelligent 
enough  to  lay  out  the  whole  course  of  the  river, 
from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  its  source,  with  a  pen  and 
paper  which  they  showed  him  how  to  use.  These 
Indians  kept  them  company  for  some  time,  meeting 
them  here  and  there  with  presents  of  strawberries, 
mulberries,  bread,  and  fish,  for  which  they  received 
pins,  neeales,  and  beads.  They  spent  one  night  at 
Poore  Cottage  (the  Port  Cotage  of  Percy,  where 
he  saw  the  white  boy),  probably  now  Haxall.  Five 
miles  above  they  went  ashore  near  the  now  famous 
Dutch  Gap,  where  King  Arahatic  gave  them  a 
roasted  deer,  and  caused  his  women  to  bake  cakes 
for  them.  This  king  gave  Newport  his  crown, 
which  was  of  deer's  hair  dyed  red.  He  was  a  sub- 
ject of  the  great  King  Powhatan.  While  they  sat 
making  merry  with  the  savages,  feasting  and  taking 


68  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [^t.  28 

tobacco  and  seeing  the  dances,  Powhatan  himself 
appeared  and  was  received  with  great  show  of 
honor,  all  rising  from  their  seats  except  King  Ara- 
hatic,  and  shouting  loudly.  To  Powhatan  ample 
presents  were  made  of  penny-knives,  shears,  and 
toys,  and  he  invited  them  to  visit  him  at  one  of  his 
seats  called  Powhatan,  which  was  within  a  mile  of 
the  Falls,  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Richmond. 
All  along  the  shore  the  inhabitants  stood  in  clus- 
ters, offering  food  to  the  strangers.  The  habitation 
of  Powhatan  was  situated  on  a  high  hill  by  the 
water  side,  with  a  meadow  at  its  foot  w^here  was 
grown  wheat,  beans,  tobacco,  peas,  pompions,  flax, 
and  hemp. 

Powhatan  served  the  whites  with  the  best  he  had, 
and  best  of  all  with  a  friendly  welcome  and  with 
interesting  discourse  of  the  country.  They  made  a 
league  of  friendship.  The  next  day  he  gave  them 
six  men  as  guides  to  the  falls  above,  and  they  left 
with  him  one  man  as  a  hostage. 

On  Sunday,  the  24th  of  May,  having  returned  to 
Powhatan's  seat,  they  made  a  feast  for  him  of  pork, 
cooked  with  peas,  and  the  Captain  and  King  ate 
familiarly  together;  ''  he  eat  very  freshly  of  our 
meats,  dranck  of  our  beere,  aquavite,  and  sack." 
Under  the  influence  of  this  sack  and  aquavite  the 
King  was  very  communicative  about  the  mterior  of 
the  country,  and  promised  to  guide  them  to  the 
mines  of  iron  and  copper;  but  the  w^ary  chief  seems 
to  have  thought  better  of  it  when  he  got  sober,  and 
put  them  off  with  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the 
way. 

On  one  of  the  islets  below  the  Falls,  Captain  New- 
port set  up  a  cross  with  the  inscription  "Jacobus, 
Rex,  1607,"  and  his  own  name  beneath,  and  James 


i6o7]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF   THE    COLONY.         69 

was  proclaimed  King  with  a  great  shout,  Powhatan 
was  displeased  with  their  importunity  to  go  further 
up  the  river,  and  departed  with  all  the  Indians,  ex- 
cept the  friendly  Navirans  who  had  accompanied 
them  from  Arahatic.  Navirans  greatly  admired 
tlie  cross,  but  Newport  hit  upon  an  explanation  of 
its  meaning  that  should  dispel  the  suspicions  of 
Powhatan.  He  told  him  that  the  two  arms  of  the 
cross  signified  King  Powhatan  and  himself,  the  fast- 
ening of  it  in  the  middle  was  their  united  league, 
and  the  shout  was  the  reverence  he  did  to  Powhatan. 
This  explanation  being  made  to  Powhatan  greatly 
contented  him,  and  he  came  on  board  and  gave 
them  the  kindest  farewell  when  they  dropped  down 
the  river.  At  Arahatic  they  found  the  King  had 
provided  victuals  for  them,  but,  says  Newport,  "  the 
King  told  us  that  he  was  very  sick  and  not  able  to 
sit  up  long  with  us."  The  inability  of  the  noble  red 
man  to  sit  up  was  no  doubt  due  to  too  much  Chris- 
tian sack  and  aquavite,  for  on  "  Monday  he  came 
to  the  water  side,  and  we  went  ashore  with  him 
again.  He  told  us  that  our  hot  drinks,  he  thought, 
caused  him  grief,  but  that  he  was  v/eil  again,  and 
TV'e  were  very  welcome." 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  to  Captain  Newport,  who 
was  a  good  sailor  in  his  day,  and  has  left  his  name 
in  Virginia  in  Newport  News,  must  be  given  the 
distinction  of  first  planting  the  cross  in  Virginia, 
with  a  lie,  and  watering  it,  with  aquavite. 

They  dropped  down  the  river  to  a  place  called 
Mulberry  Shade,  where  the  King  killed  a  deer  and 
prepared  for  them  another  feast,  at  which  they  had 
rolls  and  cakes  made  of  wheat.  "This  the  women 
make  and  are  very  cleanly  about  it.  We  had  parched 
meal,  excellent  good,  sodd  [cooked]  beans,  which  eat 


70  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  \Ex.  28 

as  sweet  as  filbert  kernels,  in  a  manner,  strawber- 
ries; and  mulberries  were  shaken  off  the  tree,  drop- 
ping on  our  heads  as  we  sat.  He  made  ready  a  land 
turtle  which  we  ate;  and  showed  that  he  was  heartily- 
rejoiced  in  our  company."  Such  was  the  amiable 
disposition  of  the  natives  before  they  discovered  the 
purpose  of  the  whites  to  dispossess  them  of  their 
territory.  That  night  they  stayed  at  a  place  called 
"  Kynd  Woman's  Care,"  where  the  people  offered 
them  abundant  victual  and  craved  nothing  in  return 
Next  day  they  went  ashore  at  a  place  Newport 
calls  Queen  Apumatuc's  Bower.  This  Queen,  who 
owed  allegiance  to  Powhatan,  had  much  land  under 
cultivation,  and  dwelt  in  state  on  a  pretty  hill. 
This  ancient  representative  of  women's  rights  in 
Virginia  did  honor  to  her  sex.  She  came  to  meet 
the  strangers  in  a  show  as  majestical  as  that  of  Pow- 
hatan himself:  "  She  had  an  usher  before  her,  who 
brought  her  to  the  matt  prepared  under  a  faire  mul- 
berry-tree; where  she  sat  down  by  herself,  with  a 
stayed  countenance.  She  would  permitt  none  to 
stand  or  sitt  neare  her.  She  is  a  fatt,  lustie,  manly 
woman.  She  had  much  copper  about  her  neck,  a 
coronet  of  copper  upon  her  hed.  She  had  long, 
black  haire,  which  hanged  loose  dovv^n  her  back  to 
her  myddle;  which  only  part  was  covered  with  a 
deare's  skyn,  and  ells  all  naked.  She  had  her 
women  attending  her,  adorned  much  like  herself 
(except  they  wanted  the  copper).  Here  we  had  our 
accustomed  eates,  tobacco,  and  welcome.  Our  Cap- 
taine  presented  her  with  guyfts  liberally,  whereupon 
shee  cheered  somewhat  her  countenance,  and  re- 
quested him  to  shoote  off  a  piece;  whereat  (we  noted) 
she  showed  not  near  the  like  feare  as  Arahatic, 
though  he  be  a  goodly  man." 


i6o7]      FIRST   PLANTING   OF    THE    COLONY.         7 1 

The  company  was  received  with  the  same  hospi- 
tality by  King  Pamunky,  whose  land  was  believed 
to  be  rich  in  copper  and  pearls.  The  copper  was  so 
flexible  that  Captain  Newport  bent  a  piece  of  it  the 
thickness  of  his  finger  as  if  it  had  been  lead.  The 
natives  were  unwilling  to  part  with  it.  The  King 
had  about  his  neck  a  string  of  pearls  as  big  as  peas, 
which  would  have  been  worth  three  or  four  hundred 
pounds,  if  the  pearls  had  been  taken  from  the  mus- 
sels as  they  should  have  been. 

Arriving  on  their  route  at  Weanock,  some  twenty 
miles  above  the  fort,  they  were  m.inded  to  visit  Pas- 
pahegh  and  another  chief — Jamestown  lay  in  the 
territory  of  Paspahegh — but  suspicious  signs  among 
the  natives  made  them  apprehend  trouble  at  the 
fort,  and  they  hastened  thither  to  find  their  suspi- 
cions verified.  The  day  before.  May  26th,  the  col- 
ony had  been  attacked  by  two  hundred  Indians 
(four  hundred,  Smith  says),  who  were  only  beaten  off 
when  they  had  nearly  entered  the  fort,  by  the  use  of 
the  artillery.  The  Indians  made  a  valiant  fight  for 
an  hour;  eleven  white  men.  were  wounded,  of  whom 
one  died  afterwards,  and  a  boy  was  killed  on  the 
pinnace.  This  loss  was  concealed  from  the  Indians, 
who  for  some  time  seem  to  have  believed  that  the 
whites  could  not  be  hurt.  Four  of  the  Council  were 
hurt  in  this  fight,  and  President  Wingfield,  who 
showed  himself  a  valiant  gentleman,  had  a  shot 
through  his  beard.  They  killed  eleven  of  the  In- 
dians, but  their  comrades  lugged  them  away  on 
their  backs  and  buried  them  in  the  woods  with  a 
great  noise.  For  several  days  alarms  and  attacks 
continued,  and  four  or  five  men  were  cruelly  wound- 
ed, and  one  gentleman,  Mr.  Eustace  Cloville,  died 
from  the  effects  of  five  arrows  in  his  body. 


72  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

Upon  this  hostility,  says  Smith,  the  President  was 
contented  the  fort  should  be  palisaded,  and  the  ord- 
nance mounted,  and  the  men  armed  and  exercised. 
The  fortification  went  on,  but  the  attacks  con- 
tinued, and  it  was  unsafe  for  any  to  venture  beyond 
the  fort. 

Dissatisfaction  arose  evidently  with  President 
Wingfield's  management.  Captain  Newport  says: 
''  There  being  among  the  gentlemen  and  all  the 
company  a  murmur  and  grudge  against  certain  pro- 
ceedings and  inconvenient  courses  [Newport]  put 
up  a  petition  to  the  Council  for  reformation."  The 
Council  heeded  this  petition,  and  urged  to  amity  by 
Captain  Newport,  the  company  vowed  faithful  love 
to  each  other  and  obedience  to  the  superiors.  On 
the  loth  of  June,  Captain  Smith  was  sworn  of  the 
Council.  In  his  "General  Historic,"  not  published 
till  1624,  he  says:  "  Many  were  the  mischiefs  that 
daily  sprung  from  their  ignorant  (yet  ambitious) 
spirits;  but  the  good  doctrine  and  exhortation  of 
our  preacher  Mr.  Hunt,  reconciled  them  and  caused 
Captain  Smith  to  be  admitted  to  the  Council." 
The  next  day  they  all  partook  of  the  holy  commu- 
nion. 

In  order  to  understand  this  quarrel,  which  was 
not  by  any  means  appeased  by  this  truce,  and  to 
determine  Captain  Smith's  responsibility  for  it,  it 
is  necessary  to  examine  all  the  witnesses.  Smith  is 
unrestrained  in  his  expression  of  his  contempt  for 
Wingfield.  But  in  the  diary  of  Wingfield  we  find 
no  accusation  against  Smith  at  this  date.  Wing- 
field says  that  Captain  Newport  before  he  departed 
asked  him  how  he  thought  himself  settled  in  the 
government,  and  that  he  replied  "  that  no  disturb- 
ance could  endanger  him  or  the  colony,  but  it  must 


i6o7]      FIRST  PLANTING   OF   THE   COLONY.         73 

be  wrought  either  by  Captain  Gosnold  or  Mr.  Archer, 
for  the  one  was  strong  with  friends  and  followers 
and  could  if  he  would;  and  the  other  was  troubled 
with  an  ambitious  spirit  and  would  if  he  could," 

The  writer  of  Newport's  "Relatyon"  describes 
the  Virginia  savages  as  a  very  strong  and  lusty 
race,  and  swift  warriors.  "  Their  skin  is  tawny; 
not  so  borne,  but  with  dyeing  and  painting  them- 
selves, in  which  they  delight  greatly."  That  the  In- 
dians were  born  white  was,  as  we  shall  see  here- 
after, a  common  belief  among  the  first  settlers  in 
Virginia  and  New  England.  Percy  notes  a  distinc- 
tion between  maids  and  married  women:  "  The  maids 
shave  close  the  fore  part  and  sides  of  their  heads, 
and  leave  it  long  behind,  where  it  is  tied  up  and 
hangs  down  to  the  hips.  The  married  women  wear 
their  hair  all  of  a  length,  but  tied  behind  as  that  of 
maids  is.  And  the  women  scratch  on  their  bodies 
and  limbs,  with  a  sharp  iron,  pictures  of  fowls,  fish, 
and  beasts,  and  rub  into  the  'drawings'  lively  colors 
which  dry  into  the  flesh  and  are  permanent."  The 
"  Relatyon"  says  the  people  are  witty  and  ingenious 
and  allows  them  many  good  qualities,  but  makes 
this  exception:  "  The  people  steal  anything  comes 
near  them;  yea,  are  so  practiced  in  this  art,  that 
looking  in  our  face,  they  would  with  their  foot,  be- 
tween their  toes,  convey  a  chisel,  knife,  percer,  or 
any  indifferent  light  thing,  which  hav^ing  once  con- 
veyed, they  hold  it  an  injury  to  take  the  same  from 
them.  They  are  naturally  given  to  treachery;  how- 
beit  we  could  not  find  it  in  our  travel  up  the  river, 
but  rather  a  most  kind  and  loving  people." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

QUARRELS    AND    HARDSHIPS. 

ON  Sunday,  June  21,  they  took  the  communion 
lovingly  together.  That  evening  Capt.  New- 
port gave  a  farewell  supper  on  board  his  vessel. 
The  2 2d  he  sailed  in  the  Susa?i  Constant  for  England, 
carrying  specimens  of  woods  and  minerals,  and 
made  the  short  passage  of  five  weeks.  Dudley 
Carleton,  in  a  letter  to  John  Chamberlain  dated 
Aug.  18,  1607,  writes  "that  Capt.  Newport  has  ar- 
rived without  gold  or  silver,  and  that  the  adventur- 
ers, cumbered  by  the  presence  of  the  natives,  have 
fortified  themselves  at  a  place  called  Jamestown." 
The  colony  left  numbered  one  hundred  and  four. 

The  good  harmony  of  the  colony  did  not  last. 
There  were  other  reasons  why  the  settlement  was 
unprosperous.  The  supply  of  wholesome  provisions 
was  inadequate.  The  situation  of  the  town  near 
the  Chickahominy  swamps  was  not  conducive  to 
health,  and  although  Powhatan  had  sent  to  make 
peace  with  them,  and  they  also  made  a  league  of 
amity  with  the  chiefs  Paspahegh  and  Tapahanagh, 
they  evidently  had  little  freedom  of  movement  be- 
yond sight  of  their  guns.  Percy  says  they  were 
very  bare  and  scant  of  victuals,  and  in  wars  and 
dangers  with  the  savages. 

Smith  says  in  his  "True  Relation,"  which  was 
written  on  the  spot,  and  is  much  less  embittered 
than  his  "  General  Historic,"  that  they  were  in  good 


i607]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  75 

health  and  content  when  Newport  departed,  but 
this  did  not  long  continue,  for  President  Wingfield 
and  Capt.  Gosnold,  with  the  most  of  the  Council, 
were  so  discontented  with  each  other  that  nothine 
was  done  with  discretion,  and  no  business  trans- 
acted with  wisdom.  This  he  charges  upon  the 
"hard-dealing  of  the  President,"  the  rest  of  the 
Council  being  diversely  affected  through  his  auda- 
cious command.  "  Capt.  Martin,  though  honest, 
was  weak  and  sick ;  Smith  was  in  disgrace  through 
the  malice  of  others;  and  God  sent  famine  and 
sickness,  so  that  the  living  were  scarce  able  to  bury 
the  dead.  Our  want  of  sufficient  good  food,  and 
continual  watching,  four  or  five  each  night,  at  three 
bulwarks,  being  the  chief  cause  ;  only  of  sturgeon 
we  had  great  store,  whereon  we  would  so  greedily 
surfeit,  as  it  cost  many  their  lives  ;  the  sack,  Aqua- 
vite,  and  other  preservations  of  our  health  being 
kept  in  the  President's  hands,  for  his  own  diet  and 
his  few  associates." 

In  his  "  General  Historic,"  written  many  years 
later.  Smith  enlarges  this  indictment  with  some 
touches  of  humor  characteristic  of  him.     He  says: 

"  Being  thus  left  to  our  fortunes,  it  fortuned  that  within 
ten  days  scarce  ten  amongst  us  could  either  go,  or  well 
stand,  such  extreme  weaknes  and  sicknes  oppressed  us. 
And  thereat  none  need  raarvaile,  if  they  consider  the 
cause  and  reason,  which  was  this:  whilst  the  ships  stayed, 
our  allowance  was  somewhat  bettered,  by  a  daily  propor- 
tion of  Bisket,  which  the  sailors  would  pilfer  to  sell,  give, 
or  exchange  with  us  for  money,  Saxefras,  furres,  or  love. 
But  when  they  departed,  there  remained  neither  taverne, 
beere-house,  nor  place  of  reliefe,  but  the  common  Kettell, 
Had  we  beene  as  free  from  all  sinnes  as  gluttony,  and 
drunkennesse,  we  might  have  been  canonized  for  Saints. 
But  our  President  would  never  have  been  admitted,  for 


7^  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

ingrissing  to  his  private,  Oatmeale,  Sacke,  Oyle,  Aqua- 
vitae,  Beef,  Egges,  or  what  not,  but  the  Kettell :  that  in- 
deed he  allowed  equally  to  be  distributed,  and  that  was 
half  a  pint  of  wheat,  and  as  much  barley  boyled  with 
water  for  a  man  a  day,  and  this  being  fryed  some  twenty- 
six  weeks  in  the  ship's  hold,  contained  as  many  wormes 
as  graines  ;  so  that  we  might  truly  call  it  rather  so  much 
bran  than  corrne,  our  drinke  was  water,  our  lodgings  Cas- 
tles in  the  ayre ;  with  this  lodging  and  dyet,  our  extreme 
toile  in  bearing  and  planting  Pallisadoes,  so  strained  and 
bruised  us,  and  our  continual  labour  in  the  extremitie  of 
the  heat  had  so  weakened  us,  as  were  cause  sufficient  to 
have  made  us  miserable  in  our  native  countrey,  or  any 
other  place  in  the  world." 

Affairs  grew  worse.  The  sufferings  of  this  colony 
in  the  summer  equaled  that  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plym- 
outh in  the  Vvinter  and  spring.  Before  September 
forty-one  were  buried,  says  Wingfield  ;  fifty  says 
Smith  in  one  statement,  and  forty-six  in  another  ; 
Percy  gives  a  list  of  twenty-four  who  died  in  August 
and  September.  Late  in  August  Wingfield  said, 
"  Sickness  had  not  now  left  us  seven  able  men  in 
our  town,"  "As  yet,"  writes  Smith  in  September, 
"  we  had  no  houses  to  cover  us,  our  teuts  were  rot- 
ten, and  our  cabins  worse  than  nought." 

Percy  gives  a  doleful  picture  of  the  wretchedness 
of  the  colony:  "  Our  men  were  destroyed  with  cruel 
sickness,  as  swellings,  fluxeSj  burning-fevers,  and 
by  wars,  and  some  departed  suddenly,  but  for  the 
most  part  they  died  of  mere  famine.  .  .  .  We 
watched  every  three  nights,  lying  on  the  cold  bare 
ground  what  weather  soever  came,  worked  all  the 
next  day,  which  brought  our  men  to  be  most  feeble 
wretches,  our  food  was  but  a  small  can  of  barley, 
sod  in  water  to  five  men  a  day,  our  drink  but  cold 
water  taken  out  of  the  river,  which  was  at  the  flood 


l6o7]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  77 

very  salt,  at  a  low  tide  full  of  shrimp  and  filth, 
which  was  the  destruction  of  many  of  our  men. 
Thus  we  lived  for  the  space  of  five  months  in  this 
miserable  distress,  but  having  five  able  men  to  man 
our  bulwarks  upon  any  occasion.  If  it  had  not 
pleased  God  to  put  a  terrour  in  the  savage  hearts, 
we  had  all  perished  by  those  wild  and  cruel  Pagans, 
being  in  that  weak  state  as  we  were  :  our  men  night 
and  day  groaning  in  every  corner  of  the  fort,  most 
pitiful  to  hear.  If  there  were  any  conscience  in 
men,  it  would  make  their  hearts  to  bleed  to  hear 
the  pitiful  murmurings  and  outcries  of  our  sick 
men,  without  relief,  every  night  and  day,  for  the 
space  of  six  weeks  :  some  departing  out  of  the 
world  ;  many  times  three  or  four  in  a  night  ;  in  the 
morning  their  bodies  trailed  out  of  their  cabins,  like 
dogs,  to  be  buried.  In  this  sort  did  I  see  the  mor- 
tality of  divers  of  our  people." 

A  severe  loss  to  the  colony  was  the  death  on  the 
2  2d  of  August  of  Capt.  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  one  of 
the  Council,  a  brave  and  adventurous  mariner,  and, 
says  Wingfield,  a  "  worthy  and  religious  gentleman." 
He  was  honorably  buried,  "  having  all  the  ordnance 
in  the  fort  shot  off  with  many  volleys  of  small  shot." 
If  the  Indians  had  known  that  those  volleys  signified 
the  mortality  of  their  comrades,  the  colony  would 
no  doubt  have  been  cut  off  entirely.  It  is  a  melan- 
choly picture,  this  disheartened  and  half-famished 
band  of  men  quarreling  among  themselves  ;  the 
occupation  of  the  half-dozen  able  men  was  nursing 
the  sick  and  digging  graves.  We  anticipate  here 
by  saying,  on  the  authority  of  a  contemporary 
manuscript  in  the  State  Paper  office,  that  when 
Capt.  Newport  arrived  with  the  first  supply  in 
Jan.,  1608,  "he  found   the  colony  consisting  of  no 


78  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

more  than  forty  persons  ;  of  those,  ten  only  able 


men." 


After  the  death  of  Gosnold,  Capt.  Kendall  was 
deposed  from  the  Council  and  put  in  prison  for  sow- 
ing discord  between  the  President  and  Council, 
says  Wingfield  ;  for  heinous  matters  which  were 
proved  against  him,  says  Percy  ;  for  "  divers  rea- 
sons," says  Smith,  who  sympathized  with  his  dislike 
of  Wingfield.  The  colony  was  in  very  low  estate  at 
this  time,  and  was  only  saved  from  famine  by  the 
providential  good-will  of  the  Indians,  who  brought 
them  corn  half  ripe,  and  presently  meat  and  fruit 
in  abundance. 

On  the  7th  of  September  the  chief  Paspahegh 
gave  a  token  of  peace  by  returning  a  white  boy  who 
had  run  away  from  camp,  and  other  runaways  were 
returned  by  other  chiefs,  who  reported  that  they  had 
been  well  used  in  their  absence.  By  these  returns 
Mr.  Wingfield  was  convinced  that  the  Indians  were 
not  cannibals^  as  Smith  believed. 

On  the  loth  of  September  Mr.  Wingfield  was 
deposed  from  the  presidency  and  the  Council,  and 
Capt.  John  Ratcliffe  was  elected  President.  Con- 
cerning the  deposition  there  has  been  much  dis- 
pute; but  the  accounts  of  it  by  Capt.  Smith  and 
his  friends,  so  long  accepted  as  the  truth,  must  be 
modified  by  Mr.  Wingfield's  "Discourse  of  Vir- 
ginia," more  recently  come  to  light,  which  is,  in  a 
sense,  a  defense  of  his  conduct. 

In  his  "True  Relation"  Capt.  Smith  is  content  to 
say  that  "  Capt. Wingfield,  having  ordered  the  affairs 
in  such  sort  that  he  was  hated  of  them  all,  in  which 
respect  he  was  with  one  accord  deposed  from  the 
presidency." 

In  the  "General  Historie"  the  charges  against 


i607]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  79 

him,  which  we  have  alread}'  quoted,  are  extended, 
and  a  new  one  is  added,  that  is,  a  purpose  of  desert- 
ing the  colony  in  the  pinnace:  ''the  rest  seeing  the 
President's  projects  to  escape  these  miseries  in  our 
pinnace  by  flight  (who  all  this  time  had  neither 
felt  want  nor  sickness),  so  moved  our  dead  spirits 
we  deposed  him." 

In  the  scarcity  of  food  and  the  deplorable  sick- 
ness and  death,  it  was  inevitable  that  extreme  dis- 
satisfaction should  be  felt  with  the  responsible 
head.  Wingfield  was  accused  of  keeping  the  best 
of  the  supplies  to  himself.  The  commonalty  may 
have  believed  this.  Smith  himself  must  have  known 
that  the  supplies  were  limited,  but  have  been  will- 
ing to  take  advantage  of  this  charge  to  depose  the 
President,  who  was  clearly  in  many  ways  incompe- 
tent for  his  trying  position.  It  appears  by  Mr. 
Wingfield's  statement  that  the  supply  left  with  the 
colony  was  very  scant,  a  store  that  would  only  last 
thirteen  weeks  and  a  half,  and  prudence  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  it,  in  the  uncertainty  of  Newport's 
return,  was  a  necessity.  Whether  Wingfield  used 
the  delicacies  himself  is  a  question  which  cannot  be 
settled.  In  his  defense,  in  all  we  read  of  him, 
except  that  written  by  Smith  and  his  friends,  he 
seems  to  be  a  temperate  and  just  man,  little  quali- 
fied to  control  the  bold  spirits  about  him. 

As  early  as  July,  ''  in  his  sickness  time,  the  Presi- 
dent did  easily  fortell  his  own  deposing  from  his 
command,"  so  much  did  he  differ  from  the  Council 
in  the  management  of  the  colony.  Under  date  of 
September  yth  he  says  that  the  Council  demanded 
a  larger  allowance  for  themselves  and  for  some  of 
the  sick,  their  favorites,  which  he  declined  to  give 
without  their  warrants  as  councilors.     Capt.  Martin 


80  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

of  the  Council  was  till  then  ignorant  that  only  store 
for  thirteen  and  a  half  weeks  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Cape  Merchant,  or  treasurer,  who  was  at  that 
time  Mr.  Thomas  Studley.  Upon  a  representation 
to  the  Council  of  the  lowness  of  the  stores,  and  the 
length  of  time  that  must  elapse  before  the  harvest 
of  grain,  they  declined  to  enlarge  the  allowance, 
and  even  ordered  that  every  meal  of  fish  or  flesh 
should  excuse  the  allowance  of  porridge,  Mr. 
Wingfield  goes  on  to  say:  "Nor  was  the  common 
store  of  oyle,  vinegar,  sack,  and  aquavite  all  spent, 
saving  two  gallons  of  each:  the  sack  reserved  for 
the  Communion  table,  the  rest  for  such  extremities  as 
might  fall  upon  us,  which  the  President  had  only 
made  known  to  Capt.  Gosnold;  of  which  course  he 
liked  well.  The  vessels  wear,  therefore,  boonged 
upp.  When  Mr.  Gosnold  was  dead,  the  President 
did  acquaint  the  rest  of  the  Council  with  the  said 
remnant;  but,  Lord,  how  they  then  longed  for  to 
supp  up  that  little  remnant:  for  they  had  now 
emptied  all  their  own  bottles,  and  all  other  that  they 
could  smell  out." 

Shortly  after  this  the  Council  again  importuned 
the  President  for  some  better  allowance  for  them- 
selves and  for  the  sick.  He  protested  his  impar- 
tiality, showed  them  that  if  the  portions  were 
distributed  according  to  their  request  the  colony 
would  soon  starve;  he  still  offered  to  deliver  w^hat 
they  pleased  on  their  warrants,  but  would  not  him- 
self take  the  responsibility  of  distributing  all  the 
stores,  and  when  he  divined  the  reason  of  their 
impatience  he  besought  them  to  bestow  the  presi- 
dency among  themselves,  and  he  would  be  content 
to  obey  as  a  private.  Meantime  the  Indians  were 
bringing  in  supplies  of  corn  and  meat,  the  men 


i6o7]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  8 1 

were  so  improved  in  health  that  thirty  were  able  to 
work,  and  provision  for  three  weeks'  bread  was  laid 
up. 

Nevertheless,  says  Mr.  Wingfield,  the  Council  had 
fully  plotted  to  depose  him.  Of  the  original  seven, 
there  remained,  besides  Mr.  Wingfield,  only  three 
in  the  Council.  Newport  was  in  England,  Gosnold 
was  dead,  and  Kendall  deposed.  Mr.  Wingfield 
charged  that  the  three — Ratcliffe,  Smith,  and  Martin 
— forsook  the  instructions  of  his  Majesty,  and  set 
up  a  Triumvirate.  At  any  rate,  Wingfield  was 
forcibly  deposed  from  the  Council  on  the  loth  of 
September.  If  the  object  had  been  merely  to 
depose  him,  there  was  an  easier  way,  for  Wingfield 
was  ready  to  resign.  But  it  appears,  by  subsequent 
proceedings,  that  they  wished  to  fasten  upon  him 
the  charge  of  embezzlement,  the  responsibility  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  colony,  and  to  mulct  him  in 
fines.  He  was  arrested,  and  confined  on  the  pin- 
nace.    Mr.  Ratcliffe  was  made  President. 

On  the  nth  of  September  Mr.  Wingfield  was 
brought  before  the  Council  sitting  as  a  court,  and 
heard  the  charges  against  him.  They  were,  as  Mr. 
Wingfield  says,  mostly  frivolous  trifles.  Accord- 
ing to  his  report  they  were  these: 

First,  Mister  President  [Radcliffe]  said  that  I  had 
denied  him  a  penny  whitle,  a  chicken,  a  spoonful  of 
beer,  and  served  him  with  foul  corn;  and  with  that 
pulled  some  grain  out  of  a  bag,  showing  it  to  the 
company. 

Then  starts  up  Mr.  Smith  and  said  that  I  had 
told  him  plainly  how  he  lied;  and  that  I  said, 
though  we  were  equal  here,  yet  if  we  were  in  Eng- 
land, he  [I]  would  think  scorn  his  man  should  be 
my  companion. 


82  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

Mr.  Martin  followed  with:  ''He  reported  that  I 
do  slack  the  service  in  the  colony,  and  do  nothing 
but  tend  my  pot,  spit,  and  oven;  but  he  hath  starved 
my  son,  and  denied  him  a  spoonful  of  beer.  I  have 
friends  in  England  shall  be  revenged  on  him,  if 
ever  he  come  in  London." 

Voluminous  charges  were  read  against  Mr.  Wing- 
field  by  Mr,  Archer,  who  had  been  made  by  the 
Council,  Recorder  of  Virginia,  the  author,  according 
to  Wingfield,  of  three  several  mutinies,  as  *■  always 
hatching  of  some  mutiny  in  my  time." 

Mr.  Percy  sent  him  word  in  his  prison  that  wit- 
nesses were  hired  to  testify  against  him  by  bribes 
of  cakes  and  by  threats.  If  Mr.  Percy,  who  was  a 
volunteer  in  this  expedition,  and  a  man  of  high 
character,  did  send  this  information,  it  shows  that 
he  sympathized  with  him,  and  this  is  an  important 
piece  of  testimony  to  his  good  character. 

Wingfield  saw  no  way  of  escape  from  the  malice 
of  his  accusers,  whose  purpose  he  suspected  was  to 
fine  him  fivefold  for  all  the  supplies  whose  dispo- 
sition he  could  not  account  for  in  writing:  but  he 
was  finally  allowed  to  appeal  to  the  King  for  mercy, 
and  recommitted  to  the  pinnace.  In  regard  to  the 
charge  of  embezzlement,  Mr.  Wingfield  admitted 
that  it  was  impossible  to  render  a  full  account:  he 
had  no  bill  of  items  from  the  Cape  Merchant  when 
he  received  the  stores;  he  had  used  the  stores  for 
trade  and  gifts  with  the  Indians;  Capt.  Newport 
had  done  the  same  in  his  expedition,  without  giv- 
ing any  memorandum.  Yet  he  averred  that  he 
never  expended  the  value  of  these  penny  whittles 
[small  pocket-knives]  to  his  private  use. 

There  was  a  mutinous  and  riotous  spirit  on  shore, 
and  the  Council  professed  to  think  Wingfield's  life 


l6o7]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  83 

was  in  danger.  He  says:  "In  all  these  disorders 
was  Mr.  Archer  a  ringleader."  Meantime  the 
Indians  continued  to  bring  in  supplies,  and  the 
Council  traded  up  and  down  the  river  for  corn,  and 
for  this  energy  Mr.  Wingfield  gives  credit  to  "  Mr. 
Smith  especially,"  "which  relieved  the  colony  well." 
To  the  report  that  was  brought  him  that  he  was 
charged  with  starving  the  colony,  he  replies  with 
some  natural  heat  and  a  little  show  of  petulance, 
that  may  be  taken  as  an  evidence  of  weakness,  as 
well  as  of  sincerity,  and  exhibiting  the  undignified 
nature  of  all  this  squabbling: 

"  I  did  alwaises  give  every  man  his  allowance  faithfully, 
both  of  corne,  oyle,  aquivite,  etc.,  as  was  by  the  counsell 
proportioned :  neyther  was  it  bettered  after  my  tyme, 
untill,  towards  th'  end  of  March,  a  bisket  was  allowed  to 
every  working  man  for  his  breakfast,  by  means  of  the 
provision  brought  us  by  Captn.  Newport :  as  will  appeare 
hereafter.  It  is  further  said,  I  did  much  banquit  and 
ryot.  I  never  had  but  one  squirrel  roasted ;  whereof  I 
gave  part  to  Mr.  Ratcliffe  then  sick :  yet  was  that  squirrel 
given  me.  I  did  never  heate  a  flesh  pott  but  when  the 
comon  pott  was  so  used  likewise.  Yet  how  often  Mr. 
President's  and  the  Councellors'  spitts  have  night  and  daye 
bene  endaungered  to  break  their  backes — so  laden  with 
swanns,  geese,  ducks,  etc.!  how  many  times  their  flesh 
potts  have  swelled,  many  hungrie  eies  did  behold,  to  their 
great  longing:  and  what  great  theeves  and  theeving  thear 
hath  been  in  the  comon  stoare  since  my  tyme,  I  doubt 
not  but  is  already  made  knowne  to  his  Majesty's  Councell 
for  Virginia." 

Poor  Wingfield  was  not  left  at  ease  in  his  confine- 
ment. On  the  17th  he  was  brought  ashore  to 
answer  the  charge  of  Jehu  [John  ?]  Robinson  that  he 
had  with  Robinson  and  others  intended  to  run 
away  with  the  pinnace  to  Newfoundland;  and  the 


84  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

charge  by  Mr.  Smith  that  he  had  accused  Smith  of 
intending  mutiny.  To  the  first  accuser  the  jury 
awarded  one  hundred  pounds,  and  to  the  other  two 
hundred  pounds  damages,  for  slander.  *'  Seeing 
their  law  so  speedy  and  cheap,"  Mr.  Wingfield 
thought  he  would  try  to  recover  a  copper  kettle  he 
had  lent  Mr.  Crofts,  worth  half  its  weight  in  gold. 
But  Crofts  swore  that  Wingfield  had  given  it  to  him, 
and  he  lost  his  kettle:  "I  told  Mr.  President  I  had 
not  known  the  like  law,  and  prayed  they  would  be 
more  sparing  of  law  till  we  had  more  witt  or 
wealthe."  Another  day  they  obtained  from  Wing- 
field the  key  to  his  coffers,  and  took  all  his  accounts, 
note-books,  and  "  owne  proper  goods,"  which  he 
could  never  recover.  "  Thus  was  I  made  good 
prize  on  all  sides." 

During  one  of  Smith's  absences  on  the  river 
President  Ratcliffe  did  beat  James  Read,  the  black- 
smith. Wingfield  says  the  Council  were  continually 
beating  the  men  for  their  own  pleasure.  Read 
struck  back.  For  this  he  was  condemned  to  be 
hanged;  but  "before  he  turned  of  the  lather,"  he 
desired  to  speak  privately  with  the  President,  and 
thereupon  accused  Mr.  Kendall — who  had  been 
released  from  the  pinnace  when  Wingfield  was  sent 
aboard — of  mutiny.  Read  escaped.  Kendall  was 
convicted  of  mutiny  and  shot  to  death.  In  arrest 
of  judgment  he  objected  that  the  President  had  no 
authority  to  pronounce  judgment  because  his  name 
was  Sicklemore  and  not  Ratcliffe.  This  was  true, 
and  Mr.  Martin  pronounced  the  sentence.  In  his 
"True  Relation,"  Smith  agrees  with  this  statement 
of  the  death  of  Kendall,  and  says  that  he  was  tried 
by  a  jury.  It  illustrates  the  general  looseness  of 
the  "General  Historic,"  written  and  compiled  many 


i6o7]  QUARRELS  AND   HARDSHIPS.  8 5 

years  afterwards,  that  this  transaction  there  appears 
as  follows:  "  Wingfield  and  Kendall  being  in  dis- 
grace, seeing  all  things  at  random  in  the  absence 
of  Smith,  the  company's  dislike  of  their  President's 
weakness,  and  their  small  love  to  Martin's  never- 
mending  sickness,  strengthened  themselves  with 
the  sailors  and  other  confederates  to  regain  their 
power,  control,  and  authority,  or  at  least  such 
meanes  aboard  the  pinnace  (being  fitted  to  sail  as 
Smith  had  appointed  for  trade)  to  alter  her  course 
and  to  goe  for  England.  Smith  unexpectedly 
returning  had  the  plot  discovered  to  him,  much 
trouble  he  had  to  prevent  it,  till  with  store  of  sakre 
and  musket-shot  he  forced  them  to  stay  or  sink  in 
the  river,  which  action  cost  the  life  of  Capt.  Ken- 
dall." 

In  a  following  sentence  he  says:  "The  President 
[Ratcliffe]  and  Capt.  Archer  not  long  after  intended 
also  to  have  abandoned  the  country,  which  project 
also  was  curbed  and  suppressed  by  Smith."  Smith 
was  always  suppressing  attempts  at  flight,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  story,  unconfirmed  by  any  other 
writers.  He  had  before  accused  President  Wing- 
field  of  a  design  to  escape  in  the  pinnace. 

Communications  were  evidently  exchanged  with 
Mr.  Wingfield  on  the  pinnace,  and  the  President 
was  evidently  ill  at  ease  about  him.  One  day  he 
was  summoned  ashore,  but  declined  to  go,  and 
requested  an  interview  with  ten  gentlemen.  To 
those  who  came  off  to  him  he  said  that  he  had 
determined  to  go  to  England  to  make  known  the 
weakness  of  the  colony,  that  he  could  not  live  under 
the  laws  and  usurpations  of  the  Triumvirate;  how- 
ever, if  the  President  and  Mr.  Archer  would  go,  he 
was  willing  to  stay  and  take  his  fortune  with  the 


S6  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [^t.  28 

colony,  or  he  would  contribute  one  hundred  pounds 
towards  taking  the  colony  home.  "  They  did  like 
none  of  my  proffers,  but  made  divers  shott  at  uss 
in  the  pynnasse."  Thereupon  he  went  ashore  and 
had  a  conference. 

On  the  loth  of  December  Capt.  Smith  departed 
on  his  famous  expedition  up  the  Chickahominy, 
during  which  the  alleged  Pocahontas  episode 
occurred.  Mr.  Wingfield's  condensed  account  of 
this  journey  and  captivity  we  shall  refer  to  here- 
after. In  Smith's  absence  President  Ratcliffe,  con- 
trary to  his  oath,  swore  Mr.  Archer  one  of  the 
Council;  and  Archer  was  no  sooner  settled  in 
authority  than  he  sought  to  take  Smith's  life.  The 
enmity  of  this  man  must  be  regarded  as  a  long 
credit  mark  to  Smith.  Archer  had  him  indicted 
upon  a  chapter  in  Leviticus  (they  all  wore  a  garb 
of  piety)  for  the  death  of  two  men  who  were  killed 
by  the  Indians  on  his  expedition.  *'  He  had  had 
his  trials  the  same  dale  of  his  retourne,"  says  Wing- 
field,  "  and  I  believe  his  hanging  the  same,  or  the 
next  dale,  so  speedy  is  our  law  there.  But  it 
pleased  God  to  send  Capt.  Newport  unto  us  the 
same  evening,  to  our  unspeakable  comfort;  whose 
arrivall  saved  Mr.  Smyth's  leif  and  mine,  because 
he  took  me  out  of  the  pynnasse,  and  gave  me  leave 
to  lyve  in  the  towne.  Also  by  his  comying  was 
prevented  a  parliament,  which  the  newe  counsailor, 
Mr.  Recorder,  intended  thear  to  summon." 

Capt.  Newport's  arrival  was  indeed  opportune. 
He  was  the  only  one  of  the  Council  whose  character 
and  authority  seem  to  have  been  generally  respected, 
the  only  one  who  could  restore  any  sort  of  harmony 
and  curb  the  factious  humors  of  the  other  leaders. 
Smith  should  have  all  credit  for  his  energy  in  pro- 


i6o8]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  %J 

curing  supplies,  for  his  sagacity  in  dealing  with  the 
Indians,  for  better  sense  than  most  of  the  other 
colonists  exhibited,  and  for  more  fidelity  to  the 
objects  of  the  plantation  than  most  of  them;  but 
where  ability  to  rule  is  claimed  for  him,  at  this  junc- 
ture we  can  but  contrast  the  deference  shown  by 
all  to  Newport  with  the  want  of  it  given  to  Smith. 
Newport's  presence  at  once  quelled  all  the  uneasy 
spirits. 

Newport's  arrival,  says  Wingfield,  "  saved  Mr. 
Smith's  life  and  mine."  Smith's  account  of  the 
episode  is  substantially  the  same.  In  his  "  True 
Relation"  he  says  on  his  return  to  the  fort  "each 
man  with  truest  signs  of  joy  they  could  express 
welcomed  me,  except  Mr.  Archer,  and  some  two  or 
three  of  his,  who  was  then  in  my  absence  sworn 
councilor,  though  not  with  the  consent  of  Capt. 
Martin;  great  blame  and  imputation  was  laid  upon 
me  by  them  for  the  loss  of  our  two  men  which  the 
Indians  slew:  insomuch  that  they  purposed  to  de- 
pose me,  but  in  the  midst  of  my  miseries,  it  pleased 
God  to  send  Capt.  Newport,  Vv^ho  arriving  there 
the  same  night,  so  tripled  our  joy,  as  for  a  while 
those  plots  against  me  were  deferred,  though  with 
much  malice  against  me,  which  Capt.  Newport  in 
short  time  did  plainly  see."  In  his  "Map  of  Vir- 
ginia," the  Oxford  tract  of  1612,  Smith  does  not 
allude  to  this;  but  in  the  "  General  Historie"  it  had 
assumed  a  different  aspect  in  his  mind,  for  at  the 
time  of  writing  that  he  was  the  irresistible  hero, 
and  remembered  himself  as  always  nearly  omnipo- 
tent in  Virginia.  Therefore,  instead  of  expressions 
of  gratitude  to  Newport  we  read  this:  "Now  in 
Jamestown  they  were  all  in  combustion,  the  strong- 
est preparing  once  more  to  run  away  with  the  pin- 


88  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

nace;  which  with  the  hazard  of  his  life,  with  Sakre, 
falcon  and  musket  shot,  Smith  forced  now  the  third 
time  to  stay  or  sink.  Some  no  better  than  they 
should  be,  had  plotted  to  put  him  to  death  by  the 
Levitical  law,  for  the  lives  of  Robinson  and  Emry, 
pretending  that  the  fault  was  his,  that  led  them  to 
their  ends;  but  he  quickly  took  such  order  with 
such  Lawyers,  that  he  laid  them  by  the  heels  till 
he  sent  some  of  them  prisoners  to  England." 

Clearly  Capt.  Smith  had  no  authority  to  send 
anybody  prisoner  to  England.  When  Newport 
returned,  April  10,  Wingfield  and  Archer  went 
with  him.  Wingfield  no  doubt  desired  to  return. 
Archer  was  so  insolent,  seditious,  and  libelous  that 
he  only  escaped  the  halter  by  the  interposition  of 
Newport.  The  colony  was  willing  to  spare  both 
these  men,  and  probably  Newport  it  was  who  de- 
cided they  should  go.  As  one  of  the  Council, 
Smith  would  undoubtedly  favor  their  going.  He 
says  in  the  "General  Historic":  "We  not  having 
any  use  of  parliaments,  plaises,  petitions,  admi- 
rals, recorders,  interpreters,  chronologers,  courts  of 
plea,  or  justices  of  peace,  sent  Master  Wingfield  and 
Captain  Archer  home  with  him,  that  had  engrossed 
all  those  titles,  to  seek  some  better  place  of  em- 
ployment." Mr.  Wingfield  never  returned.  Capt. 
Archer  returned  in  1609,  with  the  expedition  of 
Gates  and  Somers,  as  master  of  one  of  the  ships. 

Newport  had  arrived  with  the  first  supply  on 
the  8th  of  January,  1608.  The  day  before,  accord- 
ing to  Wingfield,  a  fire  occurred  which  destroyed 
nearly  all  the  town,  with  the  clothing  and  provis- 
ions. According  to  Smith,  who  is  probably  correct 
in  this,  the  fire  did  not  occur  till  five  or  six  days 
after  the  arrival  of  the  ship.     The  date  is  uncer- 


i6oS]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  89 

tain,  and  some  doubt  is  also  thrown  upon  the  date 
of  the  arrival  of  the  ship.  It  was  on  the  day  of 
Smith's  return  from  captivity:  and  that  captivity 
lasted  about  four  weeks  if  the  return  was  January 
8,  for  he  Started  on  the  expedition  December  10. 
Smith  subsequently  speaks  of  his  captivity  lasting 
six  or  seven  weeks. 

In  his  "  General  Historic"  Smith  says  the  fire 
happened  after  the  return  of  the  expedition  of 
Newport,  Smith,  and  Scrivener  to  the  Pamunkey: 
"Good  Master  Hunt,  our  Preacher,  lost  all  his 
library,  and  all  he  had  but  the  clothes  on  his  back; 
yet  none  ever  heard  him  repine  at  his  loss."  This 
excellent  and  devoted  man  is  the  only  one  of  these 
first  pioneers  of  whom  everybody  speaks  well,  and 
he  deserved  all  affection  and  respect. 

One  of  the  first  labors  of  Newport  was  to  erect  a 
suitable  church.  Services  had  been  held  under 
many  disadvantages,  which  Smith  depicts  in  his 
"  Advertisements  for  Unexperienced  Planters,"  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1631: 

"  When  I  first  went  to  Virginia,  I  well  remember, 
we  did  hang  an  awning  (which  is  an  old  saile)  to 
three  or  foure  trees  to  shadow  us  from  the  Sunne, 
our  walls  were  rales  of  wood,  our  seats  unhewed 
trees,  till  we  cut  plankes,  our  Pulpit  a  bar  of  wood 
nailed  to  two  neighboring  trees,  in  foule  weather 
we  shifted  into  an  old  rotten  tent,  for  we  had  few 
better,  and  this  came  by  the  way  of  adventure  for 
me;  this  was  our  Church,  till  we  built  a  homely  thing 
like  a  barne,  set  upon  Cratchets,  covered  with  rafts, 
sedge  and  earth,  so  was  also  the  walls:  the  best  of 
our  houses  of  the  like  curiosity,  but  the  most  part 
farre  much  worse  workmanship,  that  could  neither 
well  defend  wind  nor  raine,  yet  we  had  daily  Com- 


90  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [Ml.  29 

mon  Prayer  morning  and  evening,  every  day  two 
Sermons,  and  every  three  moneths  the  holy  Com- 
munion, till  our  Minister  died,  [Robert  Hunt,]  but 
our  Prayers  daily,  with  an  Homily  on  Sundaies." 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  Wingfield,  who  is  about  to  dis- 
appear from  Virginia,  that  something  more  in  his 
defense  against  the  charges  of  Smith  and  the  others 
should  be  given.  It  is  not  possible  now  to  say  how 
the  suspicion  of  his  religious  soundness  arose,  but 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  notion  that  he  had  papal 
tendencies.  His  grandfather.  Sir  Richard  Wing- 
field,  was  buried  in  Toledo,  Spain.  His  father, 
Thomas  Maria  Wingfield,  was  christened  by  Queen 
Mary  and  Cardinal  Pole.  These  facts  perhaps 
gave  rise  to  the  suspicion.  He  answers  them  with 
some  dignity  and  simplicity,  and  with  a  little  queru- 
lousness: 

"  It  is  noised  that  I  combyned  with  the  Spanniards  to 
the  distruccion  of  the  Collony;  that  I  ame  an  atheist,  be- 
cause I  carryed  not  a  Bible  with  me,  and  because  I  did 
forbid  the  preacher  to  preache ;  that  I  affected  a  kingdome ; 
that  I  did  hide  of  the  comon  provision  in  the  ground. 

"  I  confesse  I  have  alwayes  admyred  any  noble  vertue 
and  prowesse,  as  well  in  the  Spanniards  (as  in  other  na- 
tions) :  but  naturally  I  have  alwayes  distrusted  and  disliked 
their  neighborhoode.  I  sorted  many  bookes  in  my  house, 
to  be  sent  up  to  me  at  my  goeing  to  Virginia;  amongst 
them  a  Bible.  They  were  sent  up  in  a  trunk  to  London, 
with  divers  fruite,  conserves,  and  preserves,  which  I  did 
sett  in  Mr.  Crofts  his  house  in  Ratcliff.  In  my  beeing  at 
Virginia,  I  did  understand  my  trunk  was  thear  broken  up, 
much  lost,  my  sweetmeates  eaten  at  his  table,  some  of  my 
bookes  which  I  missed  to  be  scene  in  his  hands :  and 
whether  amongst  them  my  Bible  was  so  ymbeasiled  or 
mislayed  by  my  servants,  and  not  sent  me,  I  knowe  not  as 
yet. 


i6o8]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  9 1 

"Two  or  three  Sunday  mornings,  the  Indians  gave  us 
allarums  at  our  towne.  By  that  tymes  they  weare 
answered,  the  place  about  us  well  discovered,  and  our 
devyne  service  ended,  the  dale  was  farr  spent.  The 
preacher  did  aske  me  if  it  were  my  pleasure  to  have  a 
sermon :  hee  said  hee  was  prepared  for  it.  I  made 
answere,  that  our  men  were  weary  and  hungry,  and  that 
he  did  see  the  time  of  the  dale  farr  past  (for  at  other 
tymes  hee  never  made  such  question,  but,  the  service 
finished  he  began  his  sermonj ;  and  that,  if  it  pleased  him, 
wee  would  spare  him  till  some  other  tyme.  I  never  failed 
to  take  such  noates  by  wrighting  out  of  his  doctrine  as 
my  capacity  could  comprehend,  unless  some  raynie  day 
hindred  my  endeavor.  Mymynde  never  swelled  with  such 
ympossible  mountebank  humors  as  could  make  me  affect 
any  other  kingdome  than  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

"As  truly  as  God  liveth,  I  gave  an  ould  man,  then  the 
keeper  of  the  private  store,  2  glasses  with  sallet  oyle  which 
I  brought  with  me  out  of  England  for  my  private  stoare, 
and  willed  him  to  bury  it  in  the  ground,  for  that  I  feared 
the  great  heate  would  spoile  it.  Whatsoever  was  more,  I 
did  never  consent  unto  or  know  of  it,  and  as  truly  was  it 
protested  unto  me,  that  all  the  remaynder  before  men- 
cioned  of  the  oyle,  wyne,  &c.,  which  the  President  receyved 
of  me  when  I  was  deposed  they  themselves  poored  into 
their  owne  bellyes. 

"To  the  President's  and  Counsell's  objections  I  sale 
that  I  doe  knowe  curtesey  and  civility  became  a  governor. 
No  penny  whittle  was  asked  me,  but  a  knife,  whereof  I 
have  none  to  spare.  The  Indyans  had  long  before  stoallen 
my  knife.  Of  chickins  I  never  did  eat  but  one,  and  that 
in  mysicknes.  Mr.  Ratcliff  had  before  that  time  tasted  of 
4  or  5.  I  had  by  my  owne  huswiferie  bred  above  37,  and 
the  most  part  of  them  my  owne  poultrye ;  of  all  which,  at 
my  comyng  awaie,  I  did  not  see  three  living.  I  nev^er  de- 
nyed  him  (or  any  other)  beare,  when  I  had  it.  The  corne 
was  of  the  same  which  we  all  lived  upon. 

"Mr.  Smyth,  in  the  time  of  our  hungar,  had  spread  a 
rumor  in  the  Collony,  that  I  did  feast  myself  and  my 


92  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

servants  out  of  the  comon  stoare,  with  entent  (as  I  gath- 
ered) to  have  stirred  the  discontented  company  against 
me.  I  told  him  privately,  in  Mr.  Gosnold's  tent,  that  in- 
deede  I  had  caused  half  a  pint  of  pease  to  be  sodden  with 
a  peese  of  pork,  of  my  own  provision,  for  a  poore  old  man, 
which  in  a  sicknes  (whereof  he  died)  he  much  desired; 
and  said,  that  if  out  of  his  malice  he  had  given  it  out 
otherwise,  that  hee  did  tell  a  leye.  It  was  proved  to  his 
face,  that  he  begged  in  Ireland,  like  a  rogue,  without  a 
lycence.  To  such  I  would  not  my  name  should  be  a  com- 
panyon." 

The  explanation  about  the  Bible  as  a  part  of  his 
baggage  is  a  little  far-fetched,  and  it  is  evident 
that  that  book  was  not  his  daily  companion. 
Whether  John  Smith  habitually  carried  one  about 
with  him  we  are  not  informed.  The  whole  passage 
quoted  gives  us  a  curious  picture  of  the  mind  and 
of  the  habits  of  the  time.  This  allusion  to  John 
Smith's  begging  is  the  only  reference  we  can  find 
to  his  having  been  in  Ireland.  If  he  was  there  it 
must  have  been  in  that  interim  in  his  own  narrative 
between  his  return  from  Morocco  and  his  going  to 
Virginia.  He  was  likely  enough  to  seek  adventure 
there,  as  the  hangers-on  of  the  court  in  Raleigh's 
day  occasionally  did,  and  perhaps  nothing  occurred 
during  his  visit  there  that  he  cared  to  celebrate.  If 
he  went  to  Ireland  he  probably  got  in  straits  there, 
for  that  was  his  usual  luck. 

Whatever  is  the  truth  about  Mr.  Wingfield's  in- 
efficiency and  embezzlement  of  corn  meal.  Com- 
munion sack,  and  penny  whittles,  his  enemies  had 
no  respect  for  each  other  or  concord  among  them- 
selves. It  is  Wingfield's  testimony  that  Ratcliffe 
said  he  would  not  have  been  deposed  if  he  had 
visited  Ratcliffe  during  his  sickness.  Smith  said 
that  Wingfield  would  not  have  been  deposed  except 


i6oS]  QUARRELS  AND  HARDSHIPS.  93 

for  Archer;  that  the  charges  against  him  were 
frivolous.  Yet,  says  Wingfield,  "  I  do  believe  him 
the  first  and  only  practiser  in  these  practices,"  and 
he  attributed  Smith's  hostility  to  the  fact  that  "his 
name  was  mentioned  in  the  intended  and  confessed 
mutiny  by  Galthrop."  No  other  reference  is  made 
to  this  mutiny.  Galthrop  was  one  of  those  who 
died  in  the  previous  August. 

One  of  the  best  re-enforcements  of  the  first  supply 
was  Matthew  Scrivener,  who  was  appointed  one  of 
the  Council.  He  was  a  sensible  man,  and  he  and 
Smith  worked  together  in  harmony  for  some  time. 
They  were  ititent  upon  building  up  the  colony. 
Everybody  else  in  the  camp  was  crazy  about  the  pros- 
pect of  gold:  there  was,  says  Smith,  "no  talk,  no 
hope,  no  work,  but  dig  gold,  wash  gold,  refine  gold, 
load  gold,  such  a  bruit  of  gold  that  one  mad  fellow 
desired  to  be  buried  in  the  sands,  lest  they  should  by 
their  art  make  gold  of  his  bones."  He  charges  that 
Newport  delayed  his  return  to  England  on  account 
of  this  gold  fever,  in  order  to  load  his  vessel  (which 
remained  fourteen  weeks  when  it  might  have  sailed 
in  fourteen  days)  with  gold-dust.  Capt.  Martin 
seconded  Newport  in  this;  Smith  protested  against 
it;  he  thought  Newport  was  no  refiner,  and  it  did 
torment  him  "  to  see  all  necessary  business  neglect- 
ed, to  fraught  such  a  drunken  ship  with  so  much 
gilded  durt."  This  was  the  famous  load  of  gold 
that  proved  to  be  iron  pyrites. 

In  speaking  of  the  exploration  of  the  James  River 
as  far  as  the  Falls  by  Newport,  Smith,  and  Percy, 
we  have  followed  the  statements  of  Percy  and  the 
writer  of  Newport's  discovery  that  they  saw  the 
great  Powhatan.  There  is  much  doubt  of  this. 
Smith  in  his  "True  Relation"  does  not  say  so;  in 


94  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

his  voyage  up  the  Chickahominy  he  seems  to  have 
seen  Powhatan  for  the  first  time;  and  Wingfield 
speaks  of  Powhatan,  on  Smith's  return  from  that 
voyage,  as  one  "  of  whom  before  we  had  no  knowl- 
edge." It  is  conjectured  that  the  one  seen  at 
Powhatan's  seat  near  the  Falls  was  a  son  of  the 
"Emperor."  It  was  partly  the  exaggeration  of  the 
times  to  magnify  discoveries,  and  partly  English 
love  of  high  titles,  that  attributed  such  titles  as 
princes,  emperors,  and  kings  to  the  half-naked  bar- 
barians and  petty  chiefs  of  Virginia. 

In  all  the  accounts  of  the  colony  at  this  period, 
no  mention  is  made  of  women,  and  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  any  went  over  with  the  first  colonists.  The 
character  of  the  men  was  not  high.  Many  of  them 
were  "gentlemen"  adventurers,  turbulent  spirits, 
who  would  not  work,  who  were  much  better  fitted 
for  piratical  maraudings  than  the  labor  of  founding 
a  state.  The  historian  must  agree  with  the  im- 
pression conveyed  by  Smith,  that  it  was  poor  ma- 
terial out  of  which  to  make  a  colony. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SMITH    TO    THE    FRONT. 

IT  is  now  time  to  turn  to  Smith's  personal  adven- 
tures among  the  Indians  during  this  period. 
Almost  our  only  authority  is  Smith  himself,  or  such 
presumed  writings  of  his  companions  as  he  edited 
or  rewrote.  Strachey  and  others  testify  to  his  en- 
ergy in  procuring  supplies  for  the  colony,  and  his 
success  in  dealing  with  the  Indians,  and  it  seems 
likely  that  the  colony  would  have  famished  but 
for  his  exertions.  Whatever  suspicion  attaches  to 
Smith's  relation  of  his  own  exploits,  it  must  never 
be  forgotten  that  he  was  a  man  of  extraordinary 
executive  ability,  and  had  many  good  qualities  to 
offset  his  vanity  and  impatience  of  restraint. 

After  the  departure  of  Wingfield,  Captain  Smith 
was  constrained  to  act  as  Cape  Merchant;  the  lead- 
ers were  sick  or  discontented,  the  rest  were  in  de- 
spair, and  would  rather  starve  and  rot  than  do  any- 
thing for  their  own  relief,  and  the  Indian  trade  was 
decreasing.  Under  these  circumstances,  Smith  says 
in  his  "  True  Relation,"  "  I  was  sent  to  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  to  Kegquoughtan  [now  Hampton],  an 
Indian  Towne,  to  trade  for  corn,  and  try  the  river 
for  fish."  The  Indians,  thinking  them  near  fam- 
ished, tantalized  them  with  offers  of  little  bits  of 
bread  in  exchange  for  a  hatchet  or  a  piece  of  cop- 
per, and  Smith  offered  trifles  in  return.  The  next 
day  the  Indians  were  anxious  to  trade.    Smith  sent 


96  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

men  up  to  their  town,  a  display  of  force  was  made 
by  firing  four  guns,  and  the  Indians  kindly  traded, 
giving  fish,  oysters,  bread,  and  deer.  The  town 
contained  eighteen  houses,  and  heaps  of  grain. 
Smith  obtained  fifteen  bushels  of  it,  and  on  his 
homeward  way  he  met  two  canoes  with  Indians, 
whom  he  accompanied  to  their  villages  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river,  and  got  from  them  fifteen  bushels 
more. 

This  incident  is  expanded  in  the  "General  His- 
toric." After  the  lapse  of  fifteen  years  Smith  is 
able  to  remember  more  details,  and  to  conceive 
himself  as  the  one  efficient  man  who  had  charge  of 
everything  outside  the  fort,  and  to  represent  his 
dealings  with  the  Indians  in  a  much  more  heroic 
and  summary  manner.  He  was  not  sent  on  the  ex- 
pedition, but  went  of  his  own  motion.  The  account 
opens  in  this  way:  "The  new  President  [Ratcliffe] 
and  Martin,  being  little  beloved,  of  weake  judge- 
ment in  dangers,  and  loose  Industrie  in  peace,  com- 
mitted the  management  of  all  things  abroad  to 
Captain  Smith  ;  who  by  his  own  example,  good 
words,  and  fair  promises,  set  some  to  mow,  others 
to  binde  thatch,  some  to  builde  houses,  others  to 
thatch  them,  himselfe  always  bearing  the  greatest 
taske  for  his  own  share,  so  that  in  short  time  he 
provided  most  of  them  with  lodgings,  neglecting 
any  for  himselfe.  This  done,  seeing  the  Salvage 
superfluities  beginne  to  decrease  (with  some  of  his 
workmen)  shipped  himself  in  the  Shallop  to  search 
the  country  for  trade." 

In  this  narration,  when  the  Indians  trifled  with 
Smith  he  fired  a  volley  at  them,  ran  his  boat  ashore, 
and  pursued  them  fleeing  towards  their  village, 
where  were  great  heaps  of  corn  that  he  could  with 


i6o7]  SMITH   TO    THE   FRONT  9/ 

difficulty  restrain  his  soldiers  [six  or  seven]  from 
taking.  The  Indians  then  assaulted  them  with  a 
hideous  noise:  "Sixty  or  seventy  of  them,  some 
black,  some  red,  some  white,  some  parti-coloured, 
came  in  a  square  order,  singing  and  dancing  out 
of  the  woods,  with  their  Okee  (which  is  an  Idol 
made  of  skinnes,  stuffed  with  mosse,  and  painted 
and  hung  with  chains  and  copper)  borne  before 
them;  and  in  this  manner  being  well  armed  with 
clubs,  targets,  bowes  and  arrowes,  they  charged  the 
English  that  so  kindly  received  them  with  their 
muskets  loaden  with  pistol  shot,  that  down  fell 
their  God,  and  divers  lay  sprawling  on  the  ground; 
the  rest  fled  againe  to  the  woods,  and  ere  long  sent 
men  of  their  Quiyoughkasoucks  [conjurors]  to  offer 
peace  and  redeeme  the  Okee."  Good  feeling  was 
restored,  and  the  savages  brought  the  English 
"  venison,  turkies,  wild  fowl,  bread  all  that  they 
had,  singing  and  dancing  in  sign  of  friendship  till 
they  departed."  This  fantastical  account  is  much 
more  readable  than  the  former  bare  narration. 

The  supplies  which  Smith  brought  gave  great 
comfort  to  the  despairing  colony,  which  was  by 
this  time  reasonably  fitted  with  houses.  But  it  was 
not  long  before  they  again  ran  short  of  food.  In 
his  first  narrative  Smith  says  there  were  some  mo- 
tions made  for  the  President  and  Captain  Arthur  to 
go  over  to  England  and  procure  a  supply,  but  it 
was  with  much  ado  concluded  that  the  pinnace  and 
the  barge  should  go  up  the  river  to  Powhatan  to 
trade  for  corn,  and  the  lot  fell  to  Smith  to  command 
the  expedition.  In  his  "General  Historie"  a  little 
different  complexion  is  put  upon  this.  On  his  re- 
turn. Smith  says,  he  suppressed  an  attempt  to  run 
away  with  the  pinnace  to  England.     He  represents 


98  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  {JEt.  28 

that  what  food  "  he  carefully  provided  the  rest  care- 
lessly spent,"  and  there  is  probably  much  truth  in 
his  charges  that  the  settlers  were  idle  and  improvi- 
dent. He  says  also  that  they  were  in  continual 
broils  at  this  time.  It  is  in  the  fall  of  1607 — just 
before  his  famous  voyage  up  the  Chickahominy,  on 
which  he  departed  Dec.  loth — that  he  writes:  "The 
President  and  Captain  Arthur  intended  not  long 
after  to  have  abandoned  the  country,  which  project 
was  curbed  and  suppressed  by  Smith.  The  Span- 
iard never  more  greedily  desired  gold  than  he  vic- 
tual, nor  his  soldiers  more  to  abandon  the  country 
than  he  to  keep  it.  But  finding  plenty  of  corn 
in  the  river  of  Chickahomania,  where  hundreds  of 
salvages  in  divers  places  stood  with  baskets  ex- 
pecting his  coming,  and  now  the  winter  approaching, 
the  rivers  became  covered  with  swans,  geese,  ducks, 
and  cranes,  that  we  daily  feasted  Vv^ith  good  bread, 
Virginia  peas,  pumpions,  and  putchamins,  fish, 
fowls,  and  divers  sorts  of  wild  beasts  as  fat  as  we 
could  eat  them,  so  that  none  of  our  Tuftaffaty  hu- 
morists desired  to  go  to  England." 

While  the  Chickahominy  expedition  was  prepar- 
ing, Smith  made  a  voyage  to  Popohanock  or  Qui- 
youghcohanock,  as  it  is  called  on  his  map,  a  town 
on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  above  Jamestown. 
Here  the  women  and  children  fled  from  their  homes 
and  the  natives  refused  to  trade.  They  had  plenty 
of  corn,  but  Smith  says  he  had  no  commission  to 
spoil  them.  On  his  return  he  called  at  Paspahegh, 
a  town  on  the  north  side  of  the  James,  and  on  the 
map  placed  higher  than  Popohanock,  but  evidently 
nearer  to  Jamestown,  as  he  visited  it  on  his  return. 
He  obtained  ten  bushels  of  corn  of  the  churlish  and 


i6o7]  SMITH    TO    THE   FRONT.  99 

treacherous  natives,\vho  closely  watched  and  dogged 
the  expedition. 

Everything  was  now  ready  for  the  journey  to 
Powhatan.  Smith  had  the  barge  and  eight  men  for 
trading  and  discovery,  and  the  pinnace  was  to  fol- 
low to  take  the  supplies  at  convenient  landings. 
On  the  9th  of  November  he  set  out  in  the  barge  to 
explore  the  Chickahominy,  which  is  described  as 
emptying  into  the  James  at  Paspahegh,  eight  miles 
above  the  fort.  The  pinnace  was  to  ascend  the 
river  twenty  miles  to  Point  Weanock,  and  to  await 
Smith  there.  All  the  month  of  November  Smith 
toiled  up  and  down  the  Chickahominy,  discovering 
and  visiting  many  villages,  finding  the  natives  kind- 
ly disposed  and  eager  to  trade,  and  possessing 
abundance  of  corn.  Notwithstanding  this  abun- 
dance, many  were  still  mutinous.  At  this  time  oc- 
curred the  President's  quarrel  with  the  blacksmith, 
who,  for  assaulting  the  President,  was  condemned 
to  death,  and  released  on  disclosing  a  conspiracy  of 
which  Captain  Kendall  was  principal;  and  the  latter 
was  executed  in  his  place.  Smith  returned  from  a 
third  voyage  to  the  Chickahominy  with  more  sup- 
plies, only  to  find  the  matter  of  sending  the  pinnace 
to  England  still  debated.  This  project,  by  the  help 
of  Captain  Martin,  he  again  quieted,  and  at  last  set 
forward  on  his  famous  voyage  into  the  country  of 
Powhatan  and  Pocahontas. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    FAMOUS    CHICKAHOMINY    VOYAGE. 

WE  now  enter  upon  the  most  interesting  episode 
in  the  life  of  the  gallant  captain,  more  thrill- 
ing and  not  less  romantic  than  the  captivity  in 
Turkey  and  the  tale  of  the  faithful  love  of  the  fair 
young  mistress  Charatza  Tragabigzanda. 

Although  the  conduct  of  the  lovely  Charatza  in 
dispatching  Smith  to  her  cruel  brother  in  Nalbrits, 
v^here  he  led  the  life  of  a  dog,  was  never  explained, 
he  never  lost  faith  in  her.  His  loyalty  to  women 
was  equal  to  his  admiration  of  them,  and  it  was  be- 
stowed without  regard  to  race  or  complexion.  Nor 
is  there  any  evidence  that  the  dusky  Pocahontas, 
who  is  about  to  appear,  displaced  in  his  heart  the 
image  of  the  too  partial  Tragabigzanda.  In  regard 
to  women,  as  to  his  own  exploits,  seen  in  the  light 
of  memory,  Smith  possessed  a  creative  imagination. 
He  did  not  create  Pocahontas,  as  perhaps  he  may 
have  created  the  beautiful  mistress  of  Bashaw  Bo- 
gall,  but  he  invested  her  with  a  romantic  interest 
which  forms  a  lovely  halo  about  his  own  memory. 

As  this  voyage  up  the  Chickahominy  is  more 
fruitful  in  its  consequences  than  Jason's  voyage  to 
Colchis  ;  as  it  exhibits  the  energy,  daring,  invention 
and  various  accomplishments  of  Capt.  Smith,  as 
warrior,  negotiator,  poet,  and  narrator ;  as  it  de- 
scribes Smith's  first  and  only  captivity  among  the 
Indians  ;  and  as  it  was  during  this  absence  of  four 
weeks  from  Jamestown,  if  ever,  that  Pocahontas  in- 


i6o7]  THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  lOI 

terposed  to  prevent  the  beating  out  of  Smith's 
brains  with  a  club,  I  shall  insert  the  account  of  it  in 
full,  both  Smith's  own  varying  relations  of  it,  and 
such  contemporary  notices  of  it  as  now  come  to 
light.  It  is  necessary  here  to  present  several  ac- 
counts, just  as  they  stand,  and  in  the  order  in  which 
they  were  written,  that  the  reader  may  see  for  him- 
self how  the  stor}^  of  Pocahontas  grew  to  its  final 
proportions.  The  real  life  of  Pocahontas  will  form 
the  subject  of  another  chapter. 

The  first  of  these  accounts  is  taken  from  "  The 
True  Relation,"  written  by  Capt.  John  Smith,  com- 
posed in  Virginia,  the  earliest  published  work  relat- 
ing to  the  James  River  Colony.  It  covers  a  period 
of  a  little  more  than  thirteen  months,  from  the  ar- 
rival at  Cape  Henry  on  April  26th,  1607,  to  the  re- 
turn of  Capt.  Nelson  in  the  Phcenix^  June  2d,  1608. 
The  manuscript  was  probably  taken  home  by  Capt. 
Nelson,  and  it  was  published  in  London  in  1608. 
Whether  it  was  intended  for  publication  is  doubt- 
ful ;  but  at  that  time  all  news  of  the  venture  in 
Virginia  was  eagerly  sought,  and  a  narrative  of  this 
importance  would  naturally  speedily  get  into  print. 

In  the  several  copies  of  it  extant  there  are  varia- 
tions in  the  title  page,  which  was  changed  while  the 
edition  was  being  printed.  In  some  the  name  of 
Thomas  Watson  is  given  as  the  author,  in  others 
"  A  Gentleman  of  the  Colony,"  and  an  apology  ap- 
pears signed  "T.  H.,"  for  the  want  of  knowledge 
or  inadvertence  of  attributing  it  to  any  one  except 
Capt.  Smith.* 

*  For  a  full  bibliographical  discussion  of  this  point  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  reprint  of  "The  True  Relation,"  by  Charles 
Deane,  Esq.,  Boston,  1864,  the  preface  and  notes  to  which  are 
a  masterpiece  of  critical  analysis. 


I02  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  28 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Smith  was  its  author. 
He  was  still  in  Virginia  when  it  was  printed,  and 
the  printers  made  sad  work  of  parts  of  his  manu- 
script. The  question  has  been  raised,  in  view  of  the 
entire  omission  of  the  name  of  Pocahontas  in  con- 
nection with  this  voyage  and  captivity,  whether  the 
manuscript  was  not  cut  by  those  who  published  it. 
The  reason  given  for  excision  is  that  the  promoters 
of  the  Virginia  scheme  were  anxious  that  nothing 
should  appear  to  discourage  capitalists,  or  to  deter 
emigrants,  and  that  this  story  of  the  hostility  and 
cruelty  of  Powhatan,  only  averted  by  the  tender 
mercy  of  his  daughter,  would  have  an  unfortunate 
effect.  The  answer  to  this  is  that  the  hostility  was 
exhibited  by  the  captivity  and  the  intimation  that 
Smith  was  being  fatted  to  be  eaten,  and  this  was 
permitted  to  stand.  It  is  wholly  improbable  that 
an  incident  so  romantic,  so  appealing  to  the  imagi- 
nation, in  an  age  when  wonder-tales  were  eagerly 
welcomed,  and  which  exhibited  such  tender  pity  in 
the  breast  of  a  savage  maiden,  and  such  paternal 
clemency  in  a  savage  chief,  would  have  been  omit- 
ted. It  was  calculated  to  lend  a  lively  interest  to 
the  narration,  and  would  be  invaluable  as  an  adver- 
tisement of  the  adventure. 

That  some  portions  of  "  The  True  Relation  "  were 
omitted  is  possible.  There  is  internal  evidence  of 
this  in  the  abrupt  manner  in  which  it  opens,  and  in 
the  absence  of  allusions  to  the  discords  during  the 
voyage  and  on  the  arrival.  Capt.  Smith  was  not 
the  man  to  pass  over  such  questions  in  silence,  as 
his  subsequent  caustic  letter  sent  home  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  of  Virginia  shows.  And  it  is 
probable  enough  that  the  London  promoters  would 
cut  out  from  the   '^Relation "  complaints  and  evi- 


i6o7]  THE  CHICKAHOMINV  VOYAGE.  IO3 

dence  of  the  seditions  and  helpless  state  of  the 
colony.  The  narration  of  the  captivity  is  consistent 
as  it  stands,  and  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  Poca- 
hontas episode. 

We  extract  from  the  narrative  after  Smith's  de- 
parture from  Apocant,  the  highest  town  inhabited, 
between  thirty  and  forty  miles  up  the  river,  and  be- 
low Orapaks,  one  of  Powhatan's  seats,  which  also 
appears  on  his  map.     He  writes  : 

"  Ten  miles  higher  I  discovered  with  the  barge  ;  in  the 
midway  a  great  tree  hindered  my  passage,  which  I  cut  in 
two  :  heere  the  river  became  narrower,  8,  9  or  10  foote  at  a 
high  water,  and  6  or  7  at  a  lowe :  the  stream  exceeding 
swift,  and  the  bottom  hard  channell,  the  ground  most  part 
a  low  plaine,  sandy  soyle,  this  occasioned  me  to  suppose 
it  might  issue  from  some  lake  or  some  broad  ford,  for  it 
could  not  be  far  to  the  head,  but  rather  then  I  would  en- 
danger the  barge,  yet  to  have  beene  able  to  resolve  this 
doubt,  and  to  discharge  the  imputating  malicious  tungs, 
that  halfe  suspected  I  durst  not  for  so  long  delaying,  some 
of  the  company,  as  desirous  as  myself,  we  resolved  to  hier 
a  canow,  and  returne  with  the  barge  to  Apocant,  there  to 
leave  the  barge  secure,  and  put  ourselves  upon  the  adven- 
ture :  the  country  onely  a  vast  and  wilde  wilderness,  and 
but  only  that  Towne  :  within  three  or  foure  mile  we  hired 
a  canow,  and  2  Indians  to  row  us  ye  next  day  a  fowling: 
having  made  such  provision  for  the  barge  as  was  need- 
full,  I  left  her  there  to  ride,  with  expresse  charge  not  any 
to  go  ashore  til  my  returne.  Though  some  wise  men  may 
condemn  this  too  bould  attempt  of  too  much  indiscretion, 
yet  if  they  well  consider  the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  in 
conducting  me,  the  desolatenes  of  the  country,  the  prob- 
abilitie  of  some  lacke,  and  the  malicious  judges  of  my  ac- 
tions at  home,  as  also  to  have  some  matters  of  worth  to 
incourage  our  adventurers  in  england,  might  well  have 
caused  any  honest  minde  to  have  done  the  like,  as  wel  for 
his  own  discharge  as  for  the  publike  good :  having  2  In- 


104  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28 

dians  for  my  guide  and  2  of  our  own  company,  I  set  for- 
ward, leaving  7  in  the  barge;  having  discovered  20  miles 
further  in  this  desart,  the  river  stil  kept  his  depth  and 
bredth,  but  much  more  combred  with  trees  ;  here  we  went 
ashore  (being  some  12  miles  higher  than  ye  barge  had 
bene)  to  refresh  our  selves,  during  the  boyling  of  our 
vituals :  one  of  the  Indians  I  tooke  with  me,  to  see  the 
nature  of  the  soile,  and  to  cross  the  boughts  of  the  river, 
the  other  Indian  I  left  with  M.  Robbinson  and  Thomas 
Emry,  with  their  matches  light  and  order  to  discharge  a 
peece,  for  my  retreat  at  the  first  sight  of  any  Indian,  but 
within  a  quarter  of  an  houre  I  heard  a  loud  cry,  and  a  hol- 
lowing of  Indians,  but  no  warning  peece,  supposing  them 
surprised,  and  that  the  Indians  had  betraid  us,  presently 
I  seazed  him  and  bound  his  arme  fast  to  my  hand  in  a 
garter,  with  my  pistoll  ready  bent  to  be  revenged  on  him : 
he  advised  me  to  fly  and  seemed  ignorant  of  what  was 
done,  but  as  we  went  discoursing,  I  was  struck  with  an  ar- 
row on  the  right  thigh,  but  without  harme :  upon  this 
occasion  I  espied  2  Indians  drawing  their  bowes,  which  I 
prevented  in  discharging  a  french  pistoll  :  by  that  I  had 
charged  again  3  or  4  more  did  the  like,  for  the  first  fell 
downe  and  fled  :  at  my  discharge  they  did  the  like,  my 
hinde  I  made  my  barricade,  who  offered  not  to  strive,  20 
or  30  arrowes  were  shot  at  me  but  short,  3  or  4  times  I 
had  discharged  my  pistoll  ere  the  king  of  Pamauck  called 
Opeckakenough  with  200  men,  environed  me,  each  draw- 
ing their  bowe,  v.-hich  done  they  laid  them  upon  the 
ground,  yet  without  shot,  my  hinde  treated  betwixt  them 
and  me  of  conditions  of  peace,  he  discovered  me  to  be 
the  captaine,  my  request  was  to  retire  to  ye  boate,  they 
demanded  my  armes,  the  rest  they  saide  were  slaine,  onely 
me  they  would  reserve:  the  Indian  importuned  me  not  to 
shoot.  In  retiring  being  in  the  midst  of  a  low  quagmire, 
and  minding  them  more  than  my  steps,  I  stept  fast  into 
the  quagmire,  and  also  the  Indian  in  drawing  me  forth: 
thus  surprised,  I  resolved  to  trie  their  mercies,  my  armes 
I  caste  from  me,  till  which  none  durst  approch  me :  being 
ceazed  on  me,  they  drew  me  out  and  led  me  to  th©  King, 


i6o7]  THE  CHtCKAllOMINV  VOYAGE.  IO5 

I  presented  him  with  a  compasse  diall,  describing  by  my 
best  meanes  the  use  thereof,  whereat  he  so  amazedly  ad- 
mired, as  he  suffered  me  to  proceed  in  a  discourse  of  the 
roundnes  of  the  earth,  the  course  of  the  sunne,  moone, 
starres  and  plannets,  with  kinde  speeches  and  bread  he 
requited  me,  conducting  me  where  the  canow  lay  and 
John  Robinson  slaine,  with  20  or  30  arrowes  in  him. 
Emry  I  saw  not,  I  perceived  by  the  abundance  of  fires 
all  over  the  woods,  at  each  place  I  expected  when  they 
would  execute  me,  yet  they  used  me  with  what  kindnes 
they  could :  approaching  their  Towne  which  was  within 
6  miles  where  I  was  taken,  onely  made  as  arbors  and 
covered  with  mats,  which  they  remove  as  occasion  re- 
quires:  all  the  women  and  children,  being  advertised 
of  this  accident  came  forth  to  meet,  the  King  well 
guarded  with  20  bow  men  5  flanck  and  rear  and  each 
flanck  before  him  a  sword  and  a  peece,  and  after  him  the 
like,  then  a  bowman,  then  I  on  each  hand  a  boweman,  the 
rest  in  file  in  the  reare,  w^hich  reare  led  forth  amongst  the 
trees  in  a  bishion,  cache  his  bowe  and  a  handfull  of  ar- 
rowes, a  quiver  at  his  back  grimly  painted  :  on  eache  flanck 
a  sargeant,  the  one  running  alwaiss  towards  the  front  the 
other  towards  the  reare,  each  a  true  pace  and  in  exceeding 
good  order,  this  being  a  good  time  continued,  they  caste 
themselves  in  a  ring  with  a  daunce,  and  so  eache  man  de- 
parted to  his  lodging,  the  captain  conducting  me  to  his 
lodging,  a  quarter  of  Venison  and  some  ten  pound  of 
bread  I  had  for  supper,  what  I  left  was  reserved  for  me,  and 
sent  with  me  to  my  lodging  :  each  morning  three  women 
presented  me  three  great  platters  of  fine  bread,  more  ven- 
ison than  ten  men  could  devour  I  had,  my  gowne,  points  and 
garters,  my  compas  and  a  tablet  they  gave  me  again,  though 
8  ordinarily  guarded  me,  I  wanted  not  what  they  could 
devise  to  content  me :  and  still  our  longer  acquaintance 
increased  our  better  affection :  much  they  threatened  to 
assault  our  forte,  as  they  were  solicited  by  the  King  of 
Paspahegh,  who  shewed  at  our  fort  great  signs  of  sorrow 
for  this  mischance  :  the  King  took  great  delight  in  under- 
standing the  manner  of  our  ships  and  sayling  the  seas,  the 


I06  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [iEt.  28 

earth  and  skies  and  of  our  God  :  what  he  knew  of  the  do- 
minions he  spared  not  to  acquaint  me  with,  as  of  certaine 
men  cloathed  at  a  place  called  Ocanahonun,  cloathed  like 
me,  the  course  of  our  river,  and  that  within  4  or  5  daies 
journey  of  the  falles,  was  a  great  turning  of  salt  water :  I 
desired  he  would  send  a  messenger  to  Paspah^gh,  with  a 
letter  I  would  write,  by  which  they  should  understand, 
how  kindly  they  used  me,  and  that  I  was  well,  lest  they 
should  revenge  my  death ;  this  he  granted  and  sent  three 
men,  in  such  weather,  as  in  reason  were  unpossible,  by 
any  naked  to  be  indured  :  their  cruell  mindes  towards  the 
fort  I  had  deverted,  in  describing  the  ordinance  and  the 
mines  in  the  fields,  as  also  the  revenge  Captain  Newport 
would  take  of  them  at  his  returne,  their  intent,  I  incerted 
the  fort,  the  people  of  Ocanahonun  and  the  back  sea,  this 
report  they  after  found  divers  Indians  that  confirmed:  the 
next  day  after  my  letter,  came  a  salvage  to  my  lodging, 
with  his  sword  to  have  slaine  me,  but  being  by  my  guard 
intercepted,  with  a  bowe  and  arrow  he  offred  to  have 
effected  his  purpose :  the  cause  I  knew  not,  till  the  King 
understanding  thereof  came  and  told  me  of  a  man  a  dying 
wounded  with  my  pistoll :  he  tould  me  also  of  another  I 
had  slayne,  yet  the  most  concealed  they  had  any  hurte : 
this  was  the  father  of  him  I  had  slayne,  whose  fury  to 
prevent,  the  King  presently  conducted  me  to  another  king- 
dome,  upon  the  top  of  the  next  northerly  river,  called 
Youghtanan,  having  feasted  me,  he  further  led  me  to  an- 
other branch  of  the  river  called  Mattapament,  to  two 
other  hunting  townes  they  led  me,  and  to  each  of  these 
Countries,  a  house  of  the  great  Emperor  of  Pewhakan, 
Svhom  as  yet  I  supposed  to  be  at  the  Pais,  to  him  I  tolde 
him  I  must  goe,  and  so  returne  to  Paspahegh,  after  this 
foure  or  five  dayes  march  we  returned  to  Rasawrack,  the 
first  towne  they  brought  me  too,  where  binding  the  mats  in 
bundles,  they  marched  two  dayes  journey  and  crossed 
the  River  of  Youghtanan,  where  it  was  as  broad  as 
Thames  :  sq  conducting  me  too  a  place  called  Menapacute 
in  Pamunke,  where  ye  King  inhabited ;  the  next  day  an- 
other King  of  that  nation  called  Kekataugh,  having  re- 


1 6o7  ]  THE  CHICK  A  HOMIN  Y  VO  VA  GE.  1 07 

ceived  some  kindness  of  me  at  the  Fort,  kindly  invited  me 
to  feast  at  his  house,  the  people  from  all  places  flocked  to 
see  me,  each  shewing  to  content  me.  By  this  the  great 
King  hath  foure  or  five  houses,  each  containing  fourscore 
or  an  hundred  foote  in  length,  pleasantly  seated  upon  an 
high  sandy  hill,  from  whence  you  may  see  westerly  a 
goodly  low  country,  the  river  before  the  which  his  crooked 
course  causeth  many  great  Marshes  of  exceeding  good 
ground.  An  hundred  houses,  and  many  large  plaines  are 
here  together  inhabited,  more  abundance  of  fish  and  fowle, 
and  a  pleasanter  seat  cannot  be  imagined  :  the  King  with 
fortie  bowmen  to  guard  me,  intreated  me  to  discharge  my 
Pistoll,  which  they  there  presented  me  with  a  mark  at  six 
score  to  strike  therewith  but  to  spoil  the  practice  I  broke 
the  cocke,  whereat  they  were  much  discontented  though 
a  chaunce  supposed.  From  hence  this  kind  King  con- 
ducted me  to  a  place  called  Topahanocke,  a  kingdome 
upon  another  river  northward  ;  the  cause  of  this  was,  that 
the  yeare  before,  a  shippe  had  beene  in  the  River  of  Pa- 
munke,  who  having  been  kindly  entertained  by  Powhatan 
their  Emperour,  they  returned  thence,  and  discovered  the 
River  of  Topahanocke,  where  being  received  with  like 
kindnesse,  yet  he  slue  the  King,  and  tooke  of  his  people, 
and  they  supposed  I  were  hee,  but  the  people  reported 
him  a  great  man  that  was  Captains,  and  using  mee  kindly, 
the  next  day  we  departed.  This  River  of  Topahanock, 
seemeth  in  breadth  not  much  lesse  than  that  we  dwell 
upon.  At  the  mouth  of  the  River  is  a  Countrey  called 
Guttata  women,  upwards  is  Marraugh  tacum  Tapohanock, 
Appamatuck,  and  Nantaugs  tacum,  at  Topmanahocks,  the 
head  issuing  from  many  Mountains,  the  next  night  I 
lodged  at  a  hunting  town  of  Powhatam's,  and  the  next 
day  arrived  at  Waranacomoco  upon  the  river  of  Pa- 
mauncke,  where  the  great  king  is  resident :  by  the  way  we 
passed  by  the  top  of  another  little  river,  which  is  betwixt 
the  two  called  Payankatank.  The  most  of  this  country 
though  Desert,  yet  exceeding  fertil,  good  timber,  most  hils 
and  m  dales,  in  each  valley  a  cristall  spring. 

"  Arriving  at  Weramacomoco,  their  Emperour,  proudly 


lo8  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [vEt.  28 

lying  upon  a  Bedstead  a  foote  high  upon  tenne  or  twelve 
Mattes,  richly  hung  with  manie  Chaynes  of  great  Pearles 
about  his  necke,  and  covered  with  a  great  covering  of  Ra- 
haughcums  :  At  heade  sat  a  woman,  at  his  feete  another, 
on  each  side  sitting  upon  a  Matte  upon  the  ground  were 
raunged  his  chiefe  men  on  each  side  the  fire,  tenne  in  a 
ranke  and  behinde  them  as  many  yong  women,  each  a 
great  Chaine  of  white  Beades  ov^er  their  shoulders  :  their 
heades  painted  in  redde  and  with  such  a  grave  and  Ma- 
jesticall  countenance,  as  drove  me  into  admiration  to  see 
such  state  in  a  naked  Salvage,  hee  kindly  welcomed  me 
with  good  wordes,  and  great  Platters  of  sundrie  victuals, 
assuring  mee  his  friendship  and  my  libertie  within  foure 
dayes,  hee  much  delighted  in  Opechan  Conough's  relation 
of  what  I  had  described  to  him,  and  oft  examined  me 
upon  the  same.  Hee  asked  me  the  cause  of  our  comming,  I 
tolde  him  being  in  fight  with  the  Spaniards  our  enemie, 
being  over  powred,  neare  put  to  retreat,  and  by  extreme 
weather  put  to  this  shore,  where  landing  at  Chesipiack, 
the  people  shot  us,  but  at  Kequoughtan  they  kindly  used 
us,  wee  by  signes  demaunded  fresh  water,  they  described 
us  up  the  River  was  all  fresh  water,  at  Paspahegh,  also 
they  kindly  used  us,  our  Pinnasse  being  leake  wee  were 
inforced  to  stay  to  mend  her,  till  Captan  Newport  my 
father  came  to  conduct  us  away.  He  demaunded  why  we 
went  further  with  our  Boate,  I  tolde  him,  in  that  I  would 
have  occasion  to  talke  of  the  backe  Sea,  that  on  the  other 
side  the  maine,  where  was  salt  water,  my  father  had  a 
childe  slaine,  which  we  supposed  Monocan  his  enemie, 
whose  death  we  intended  to  revenge.  After  good  delib- 
eration, hee  began  to  describe  me  the  countreys  beyond 
the  Falles,  with  many  of  the  rest,  confirming  what  not 
only  Opechancanoyes,  and  an  Indian  which  had  been 
prisoner  to  Pewhatan  had  before  tolde  mee,  but  some 
called  it  live  days,  some  sixe,  some  eight,  where  the  sayde 
water  dashed  amongst  many  stones  and  rocks,  each  storme 
which  caused  oft  tymes  the  heade  of  the  River  to  bee 
brackish :  Anchanachuck  he  described  to  bee  the  people 
that  had  slaine  my  brother,  whose  death  hee  would  re- 


1 607-8]         THE  CHICK  A  HOMIN  Y  VOYAGE.  1 09 

venge.  Hee  described  also  upon  the  same  Sea,  a  mighty 
nation  called  Pocoughtronack,  a  fierce  nation  that  did 
eate  men  and  warred  with  the  people  of  Moyaoncer,  and 
Pataromerke,  Nations  upon  the  toppe  of  the  heade  of  the 
Bay,  under  his  territories,  where  the  yeare  before  they  had 
slain  an  hundred,  he  signified  their  crownes  were  shaven, 
lone  haire  in  the  necke,  tied  on  a  knot,  Swords  like  Pol- 
laxes. 

"  Beyond  them  he  described  people  with  short  Coates, 
and  Sleeves  to  the  Elbowes,  that  passed  that  way  in  Shippes 
like  ours.  Many  Kingdomes  hee  described  mee  to  the 
heade  of  the  Bay,  which  seemed  to  bee  a  mightie  River, 
issuing  from  mightie  mountaines,  betwixt  the  two  seas ; 
the  people  clothed  at  Ocamahowan.  He  also  confirmed, 
and  the  Southerly  Countries  also,  as  the  rest,  that  reported 
us  to  be  within  a  day  and  a  halfe  of  Mangoge,  two  dayes 
of  Chawwonock,  6  from  Roonock,  to  the  South  part  of  the 
backe  sea :  he  described  a  countrie  called  Anone,  where 
they  have  abundance  of  Brasse,  and  houses  walled  as 
ours.  I  requited  his  discourse,  seeing  what  pride  he 
had  in  his  great  and  spacious  Dominions,  seeing  that 
all  hee  knewe  were  under  his  Territories. 

In  describing  to  him  the  territories  of  Europe  which 
was  subject  to  our  great  King  whose  subject  I  was,  the  in- 
numerable multitude  of  his  ships,  I  gave  him  to  understand 
the  noyse  of  Trumpets  and  terrible  manner  of  fighting 
were  under  Captain  Newport  my  father,  whom  I  intituled 
the  Meworames  which  they  call  King  of  all  the  waters,  at 
his  greatnesse  hee  admired  and  not  a  little  feared ;  he  de- 
sired mee  to  forsake  Paspaliegh,  and  to  live  with  him  upon 
his  River,  a  countrie  called  Capa  Howasicke;  he  promised 
to  give  me  corne,  venison,  or  what  I  wanted  to  feede  us, 
Hatchets  and  Copper  wee  should  make  him,  and  none 
should  disturbe  us.  This  request  I  promised  to  performe : 
and  thus  having  with  all  the  kindnes  hee  could  devise, 
sought  to  content  me,  he  sent  me  home  with  4  men,  one 
that  usually  carried  my  Gonne  and  Knapsacke  after  me, 
two  other  loded  with  bread,  and  one  to  accompanie  me." 

The  next  extract  in  regard  to  this  voyage  is  from 


no  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [^1.28-29 

President  Wingfield's  *'  Discourse  of  Virginia," 
which  appears  partly  in  the  form  of  a  diary,  but 
was  probably  drawn  up  or  at  least  finished  shortly 
after  Wingfield's  return  to  London  in  May,  1608. 
He  was  in  Jamestown  when  Smith  returned  from 
his  captivity,  and  would  be  likely  to  allude  to  the 
romantic  story  of  Pocahontas  if  Smith  had  told  it 
on  his  escape.     We  quote: 

"  Decern. — The  loth  of  December,  Mr.  Smyth  went  up 
the  ryver  of  the  Chechohomynies  to  trade  for  corne ;  he  was 
desirous  to  see  the  heade  of  that  river;  and,  when  it  was 
not  passible  with  the  shallop,  he  hired  a  cannow  and  an 
Indian  to  carry  him  up  further.  The  river  the  higher 
grew  worse  and  worse.  Then  hee  went  on  shoare  with  his 
guide,  and  left  Robinson  and  Emmery,  and  twoe  of  our 
Men,  in  the  cannow ;  which  were  presently  slayne  by  the 
Indians,  Pamaonke's  men,  and  hee  himself  taken  prysoner, 
and,  by  the  means  of  his  guide,  his  lief  was  saved ;  and 
Pamaonche,  haveing  him  prisoner,  carryed  him  to  his  ney- 
bors  wyroances,  to  see  if  any  of  them  knew  him  for  one  of 
those  which  had  bene,  some  two  or  three  yeeres  before 
us,  in  a  river  amongst  them  Northward,  and  taken  awaie 
some  Indians  from  them  by  force.  At  last  he  brought 
him  to  the  great  Powaton  (of  whome  before  wee  had  no 
knowledg),  who  sent  him  home  to  our  towne  the  8th  of 
January." 

The  next  contemporary  document  to  which  we 
have  occasion  to  refer  is  Smith's  Letter  to  the 
Treasurer  and  Council  of  Virginia  in  England,  writ- 
ten in  Virginia  after  the  arrival  of  Newport  there  in 
September,  1608,  and  probably  sent  home  by  him 
near  the  close  of  that  year.  In  this  there  is  no 
occasion  for  a  reference  to  Powhatan  or  his  daugh- 
ter, but  he  says  in  it:  "I  have  sent  you  this  Mappe 
of  the  Bay  and  Rivers,  with  an  annexed  Relation 
of  the  Countryes  and  Nations  that  inhabit  them  as 


i6o7-8]         THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  Ill 

you  may  see  at  large."  This  is  doubtless  the  "  Map 
of  Virginia,"  with  a  description  of  the  country,  pub- 
lished some  two  or  three  years  after  Smith's  return 
to  England,  at  Oxford,  1612.  It  is  a  description  of 
the  country  and  people,  and  contains  little  narra- 
tive. But  with  this  was  published,  as  an  appendix, 
an  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Virginia  colo- 
nists from  1606  to  16 1 2,  taken  out  of  the  writings 
of  Thomas  Studley  and  several  others  who  had 
been  residents  in  Virginia.  These  several  discourses 
were  carefully  edited  by  William  Symonds,  a  doctor 
of  divinity  and  a  man  of  learning  and  repute,  evi- 
dently at  the  request  of  Smith.  To  the  end  of  the 
volume  Dr.  Symonds  appends  a  note  addressed  to 
Smith,  saying:  "  I  return  you  the  fruit  of  my  labors, 
as  Mr.  Cranshaw  requested  me,  which  I  bestowed 
in  reading  the  discourses  and  hearing  the  relations 
of  such  as  have  walked  and  observed  the  land  of 
-Virginia  with  you."  These  narratives  by  Smith's 
companions,  which  he  made  a  part  of  his  Oxford 
book,  and  which  passed  under  his  eye  and  had  his 
approval,  are  uniformly  not  only  friendly  to  him, 
but  eulogistic  of  him,  and  probably  omit  no  inci- 
dent known  to  the  writers  which  would  do  him 
honor  or  add  interest  to  him  as  a  knight  of  romance. 
Nor  does  it  §eem  probable  that  Smith  himself  would 
have  omitted  to  mention  the  dramatic  scene  of  the 
prevented  execution  if  it  had  occurred  to  him.  If 
there  had  been  a  reason  in  the  minds  of  others  in 
1608  why  it  should  not  appear  in  the  "True  Rela- 
tion," that  reason  did  not  exist  for  Smith  at  this 
time,  when  the  discords  and  discouragements  of  the 
colony  were  fully  known.  And  by  this  time  the 
young  girl  Pocahontas  had  become  well  known  to 
the  colonists  at  Jamestown.     The  account  of  this 


112  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  28-29 

Chickahominy  voyage  given  in  this  volume,  pub- 
lished in  161 2,  is  signed  by  Thomas  Studley,  and  is 
as  follows: 

"The  next  voyage  he  proceeded  so  farre  that  with  much 
labour  by  cutting  of  trees  in  sunder  he  made  his  passage, 
but  when  his  Barge  could  passe  no  farther,  he  left  her  in  a 
broad  bay  out  of  danger  of  shot,  commanding  none  should 
goe  ashore  till  his  returne;  himselfe  with  2  English  and 
two  Salvages  went  up  higher  in  a  Canowe,  but  he  was  not 
long  absent,  but  his  men  went  ashore,  whose  want  of 
government  gave  both  occasion  and  opportunity  to  the 
Salvages  to  surprise  one  George  Casson,  and  much  failed 
not  to  have  cut  of  the  boat  and  all  the  rest.  Smith  little 
dreaming  of  that  accident,  being  got  to  the  marshes  at  the 
river's  head,  20  miles  in  the  desert,  had  his  2  men  slaine 
(as  is  supposed)  sleeping  by  the  Canowe,  whilst  himselfe 
by  fowling  sought  them  victual,  who  finding  he  was  beset 
by  200  Salvages,  2  of  them  he  slew,  stil  defending  him- 
selfe with  the  aid  of  a  Salvage  his  guid  (whome  hee  bound 
to  his  arme  and  used  as  his  buckler),  till  at  last  slipping 
into  a  bogmire  they  tooke  him  prisoner:  when  this  news 
came  to  the  fort  much  was  their  sorrow  for  his  losse,  fewjs 
expecting  what  ensued.  A  month  those  Barbarians  kept 
him  prisoner,  many  strange  triumphs  and  conjurations 
they  made  of  him,  yet  he  so  demeaned  himselfe  amongst 
them,  as  he  not  only  diverted  them  from  surprising  the 
Fort,  but  procured  his  own  liberty,  and  got  himselfe  and 
his  company  such  estimation  amongst  th(^m,  that  those 
Salvages  admired  him  as  a  demi-God.  So  returning  safe 
to  the  Fort,  once  more  staied  the  pinnas  her  flight  for 
England,  which  til  his  returne  could  not  set  saile,  so  ex- 
treme w^as  the  weather  and  so  great  the  frost." 

The  first  allusion  to  the  salvation  of  Capt.  Smith 
by  Pocahontas  occurs  in  a  letter  or  "  little  booke" 
which  he  wrote  to  Queen  Anne  in  1616,  about  the 
time  of  the  arrival  in  England  of  the  Indian  Princess, 
who  was  then  called  the  Lady  Rebecca,  and  was 


i6o7-8]         THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  II3 

wife  of  John  Rolfe,  by  whom  she  had  a  son,  who 
accompanied  them.  Pocahontas  had  by  this  time 
become  a  person  of  some  importance.  Her  friend- 
ship had  been  of  substantial  service  to  the  colony. 
Smith  had  acknowledged  this  in  his  "  True  Rela- 
tion," where  he  referred  to  her  as  the  "nonpareil" 
of  Virginia.  He  was  kind-hearted  and  naturally 
magnanimous,  and  would  take  some  pains  to  do 
the  Indian  convert  a  favor,  even  to  the  invention 
of  an  incident  that  would  make  her  attractive.  To 
be  sure,  he  was  vain  as  well  as  inventive,  and  here 
was  an  opportunity  to  attract  the  attention  of  his 
sovereign  and  increase  his  own  importance  by  con- 
necting his  name  with  hers  in  a  romantic  manner. 
Still,  we  believe  that  the  main  motive  that  dictated 
this  epistle  was  kindness  to  Pocahontas.  The  sen- 
tence that  refers  to  her  heroic  act  is  this:  "After 
some  six  weeks  [he  was  absent  only  four  weeks] 
fatting  amongst  those  Salvage  Countries,  at  the 
minute  of  my  execution  she  hazarded  the  beating  out 
of  her  own  braines  to  save  mine,  and  not  only  that, 
but  so  prevailed  with  her  father  [of  whom  he  says, 
in  a  previous  paragraph,  "  I  received  from  this  great 
Salvage  exceeding  great  courtesie"],  that  I  was 
safely  conducted  to  Jamestown." 

This  guarded  allusion  to  the  rescue  stood  for  all 
known  account  of  it,  except  a  brief  reference  to  it 
in  his  "New  England's  Trials"  of  1622,  until  the 
appearance  ot  Smith's  "General  Historie"  in  Lon- 
don, 1624.  In  the  first  edition  of  "New  England's 
Trials,"  1620,  there  is  no  reference  to  it.  In  the  en- 
larged edition  of  1622,  Smith  gives  a  new  version 
to  his  capture,  as  resulting  from  "the  folly  of  them 
that  fled,"  and  says:  "God  made  Pocahontas,  the 
King's  daughter,  the  means  to  deliver  me." 


114  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28-29 

The  "  General  Historie"  was  compiled — as  was 
the  custom  in  making  up  such  books  at  the  time — 
from  a  great  variety  of  sources.  Such  parts  of  it 
as  are  not  written  by  Smith — and  these  constitute 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  history — bear  marks 
here  and  there  of  his  touch.  It  begins  with  his 
description  of  Virginia,  which  appeared  in  the 
Oxford  tract  of  161 2;  following  this  are  the  several 
narratives  by  his  comrades,  which  formed  the  ap- 
pendix of  that  tract.  The  one  that  concerns  us 
here  is  that  already  quoted,  signed  Thomas  Stud- 
ley.  It  is  reproduced  here  as  ''  written  by  Thomas 
Studley,  the  first  Cape  Merchant  in  Virginia,  Rob- 
ert Fenton,  Edward  Harrington,  and  I.  S."  [John 
Smith].  It  is,  however,  considerably  extended,  and 
into  it  is  interjected  a  detailed  account  of  the  cap- 
tivity and  the  story  of  the  stones,  the  clubs,  and  the 
saved  brains. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  note  that  the  "  True  Rela- 
tion" is  not  incorporated  in  the  "  General  Historie." 
This  is  the  more  remarkable  because  it  was  an 
original  statement,  written  when  the  occurrences  it 
describes  were  fresh,  and  is  much  more  in  detail 
regarding  many  things  that  happened  during  the 
period  it  covered  than  the  narratives  that  Smith 
uses  in  the  "  General  Historie."  It  was  his  habit 
to  use  over  and  over  again  his  own  publications. 
Was  this  discarded  because  it  contradicted  the 
Pocahontas  story — because  that  story  could  not 
be  fitted  into  it  as  it  could  be  into  the  Studley 
relation  ? 

It  should  be  added,  also,  that  Purchas  printed  an 
abstract  of  the  Oxford  tract  in  his  "  Pilgrimage,"  in 
1613,  from  material  furnished  him  by  Smith.  The 
Oxford  tract  was  also  republished  by  Purchas  in 


l6o7-8]         THE  CHICK  A  HOMINY  VOYAGE.  II5 

his  *'  Pilgrimes,"  extended  by  new  matter  ia  manu- 
script supplied  by  Smith.  The  "  Pilgrimes"  did 
not  appear  till  1625,  a  year  after  the  "General  His- 
torie,"  but  was  in  preparation  long  before.  The 
Pocahontas  legend  appears  in  the  "  Pilgrimes,"  but 
not  in  the  earlier  "Pilgrimage." 

We  have  before  had  occasion  to  remark  that 
Smith's  memory  had  the  peculiarity  of  growing 
stronger  and  more  minute  in  details  the  further  he 
was  removed  in  point  of  time  from  any  event  he 
describes.  The  revamped  narrative  is  worth  quot- 
ing in  full  for  other  reasons.  It  exhibits  Smith's 
skill  as  a  writer  and  his  capacity  for  rising  into 
poetic  moods.  This  is  the  story  from  the  "  General 
Historie": 

"  The  next  voyage  hee  proceeded  so  farre  that  with  much 
labour  by  cutting  of  trees  in  sunder  he  made  his  passage, 
but  when  his  Barge  could  pass  no  farther,  he  left  her  in  a 
broad  bay  out  of  danger  of  shot,  commanding  none  should 
goe  ashore  till  his  return:  himselfe  with  two  English  and 
two  Salvages  went  up  higher  in  a  Canowe,  but  he  was 
not  long  absent,  but  his  men  went  ashore,  whose  want  of 
government,  gave  both  occasion  and  opportunity  to  the 
Salvages  to  surprise  one  George  Cassen,  whom  they  slew, 
and  much  failed  not  to  have  cut  of  the  boat  and  all  the 
rest.  Smith  little  dreaming  of  that  accident,  being  got  to 
the  marshes  at  the  river's  head,  twentie  myles  in  the  des- 
ert, had  his  two  men  slaine  (as  is  supposed)  sleeping  by 
the  Canowe,  whilst  himselfe  by  fowling  sought  them  vic- 
tuall,  who  finding  he  was  beset  with  200  Salvages,  two  of 
them  hee  slew,  still  defending  himself  with  the  ayd  of  a 
Salvage  his  guide,  whom  he  bound  to  his  arme  with  his 
garters,  and  used  him  as  a  buckler,  yet  he  was  shot  in  his 
thigh  a  little,  and  had  manyarrowes  stucke  in  hiscloathes 
but  no  great  hurt,  till  at  last  they  tooke  him  prisoner. 
When  this  newes  came  to  Jarnes  towne,  much  was  their 
sorrow  for  his  losse,  fewe  expecting  what  ensued.     Sixe  or 


Il6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.         [^t.  28-29 

seven  weekes  those  Barbarians  kept  him  prisoner,  many- 
strange  triumphes  and  conjurations  they  made  of  him, 
yet  hee  so  demeaned  himselfe  amongst  them,  as  he  not 
onely  diverted  them  from  surprising  the  Fort,  but  pro- 
cured his  owne  libertie,  and  got  himself  and  his  company 
such  estimation  amongst  them,  that  those  Salvages  ad- 
mired him  more  than  their  owne  Qiciyoiickosucks.  The 
manner  how  they  used  and  delivered  him,  is  as  followeth, 
"  The  Salvages  having  drawne  from  George  Cassen  wheth- 
er Captalne  Smith  was  gone,  prosecuting  that  opportunity 
they  followed  him  with  300  bowmen,  conducted  by  the 
King  oi  Pamauttkee,  who  in  divisions  searching  the  turn- 
ings of  the  river,  found  Robinson  and  E^nry  by  the  fireside, 
those  they  shot  full  of  arrowes  and  slew.  Then  finding 
the  Captaine  as  is  said,  that  used  the  Salvage  that  was  his 
guide  as  his  sheld*  (three  of  them  being  slaine  and  divers 
others  so  gauld)  all  the  rest  would  not  come  neere  him. 
Thinking  thus  to  have  returned  to  his  boat,  regarding 
them,  as  he  marched,  more  then  his  way,  slipped  up  to 
the  middle  in  an  oasie  creeke  and  his  Salvage  with  him, 
yet  durst  they  not  come  to  him  till  being  neere  dead  with 
cold,  he  threw  away  his  armes.  Then  according  to  their 
composition  they  drew  him  forth  and  led  him  to  the  fire, 
where  his  men  were  slaine.  Diligently  they  chafed  his 
benumbed  limbs.  He  demanding  for  their  Captaine,  they 
shewed  him  Opechankanoiigh,  King  of  Pamaunkee,  to 
whom  he  gave  a  round  Ivory  double  compass  Dyall. 
Much  they  marvailed  at  the  playing  of  the  Fly  and  Nee- 
dle, which  they  could  see  so  plainly,  and  yet  not  touch  it, 
because  of  the  glass  that  covered  them.  But  when  he 
demonstrated  by  that  Globe-like  Jewell,  the  roundnesse  of 
the  earth  and  skies,  the  spheare  of  the  Sunne,  Moone,  and 
Starres,  and  how  the  Sunne  did  chase  the  night  round 
about  the  world  continually :  the  greatnesse  of  the  Land 
and  Sea,  the  diversitie  of  Nations,  varietie  of  Complexions, 
and  how  we  were  to  them  Antipodes,  and  many  other 
such  like  matters,  they  all  stood  as  amazed  with  admira- 
tion. Notwithstanding  within  an  houre  after  they  tyed 
him  to  a  tree,  and  as  many  as  could  stand  about  him  pre- 


1 607-8 J         THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  11/ 

pared  to  shoot  him,  but  the  King  holding  up  the  Com- 
pass in  his  hand,  they  all  laid  dovvne  their  Bowes  and  Ar- 
rowes,  and  in  a  triumphant  manner  led  him  to  Orapaks, 
where  he  was  after  their  manner  kindly  feasted  and  well 
used. 

"Their  order  in  conducting  him  was  thus:  Drawing 
themselves  all  in  fyle,  the  King  in  the  middest  had  all  their 
Peeces  and  Swords  borne  before  him.  Captaine  Smith  was 
led  after  him  by  three  great  Salvages,  holding  him  fast  by 
each  arme :  and  on  each  side  six  went  in  fyle  with  their 
arrowes  nocked.  But  ai riving  at  the  Towne  (which  was 
but  onely  thirtie  or  fortie  hunting  houses  made  of  Mats, 
which  they  remove  as  they  please,  as  we  our  tents)  all  the 
women  and  children  staring  to  behold  him,  the  souldiers 
first  all  in  file  performed  the  forme  of  a  Bissom  so  well  as 
could  be  :  and  on  each  flanke,  officers  as  Serieants  to  see 
them  keepe  their  orders.  A  good  time  they  continued  this 
exercise,  and  then  cast  themselves  in  a  ring,  dauncing  in 
such  severall  Postures,  and  singing  and  yelling  out  such 
hellish  notes  and  screeches  :  being  strangely  painted,  every 
one  his  quiver  of  arrowes,  and  at  his  backe  a  club :  on  his 
arme  a  Fox  or  an  Otters  skinne,  or  some  such  matter  for 
his  vambrace :  their  heads  and  shoulders  painted  red, 
with  oyle  and  Pocones  mingled  together,  which  Scarlet 
like  colour  made  an  exceeding  handsome  shew,  his  Bow 
in  his  hand,  and  the  skinne  of  a  Bird  with  her  wings 
abroad  dryed,  tyed  on  his  head,  a  peece  of  copper,  a  white 
shell,  a  long  feather,  with  a  small  rattle  growing  at  the 
tayles  of  their  snaks  tyed  to  it,  or  some  such  like  toy. 
All  this  time  Smith  and  the  King  stood  in  the  middest 
guarded,  as  before  is  said,  and  after  three  dances  they  all 
departed.  Smith  they  conducted  to  a  long  house,  where 
thirtie  or  fortie  tall  fellowes  did  guard  him,  and  ere  long 
more  bread  and  venison  were  brought  him  then  would 
have  served  twentie  men.  I  thinke  his  stomacke  at  that 
time  was  not  very  good ;  what  he  left  they  put  in  baskets 
and  tyed  over  his  head.  About  midnight  they  set  the 
meat  again  before  him,  all  this  time  not  one  of  them  would 
eat  a  bit  with  him,  till  the  next  morning  they  brought  him 


Il8  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28-29 

as  much  more,  and  then  did  they  eate  a'll  the  old,  and 
reserved  the  new  as  they  had  done  the  other,  which  made 
him  think  they  would  fat  him  to  eat  him.  Yet  in  this 
desperate  estate  to  defend  him  from  the  cold,  one  Maocas- 
sater  brought  him  his  gowne,  in  requitall  of  some  beads 
and  toyes  Smith  had  given  him  at  his  first  arrival!  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

"Two  days  a  man  would  have  slaine  him  (but  that  the 
guard  prevented  it)  for  the  death  of  his  sonne,  to  whom 
they  conducted  him  to  recover  the  poore  man  then  breath- 
ing his  last.  SmitJi  told  them  that  at  Ja?nes  towne  he 
had  a  water  would  doe  it  if  they  would  let  him  fetch  it, 
but  they  would  not  permit  that :  but  made  all  the  prepara- 
tions they  could  to  assault  James  towne,  craving  his  ad- 
vice, and  for  recompence  he  should  have  life,  libertie, 
land,  and  women.  In  part  of  a  Table  booke  he  writ  his 
mind  to  them  at  the  Fort,  what  was  intended,  how  they 
should  follow  that  direction  to  affright  the  messengers, 
and  without  fayle  send  him  such  things  as  he  writ  for. 
And  an  Inventory  with  them.  The  difficultie  and  danger 
he  told  the  Salvages,  of  the  Mines,  great  gunnes,  and  other 
Engins,  exceedingly  affrighted  them,  yet  according  to  his 
request  they  went  to  James  towne  in  as  bitter  weather  as 
could  be  of  frost  and  snow,  and  within  three  days  returned 
with  an  answer. 

"  But  when  they  came  to  Ja??ies  towne,  seeing  men  sally 
out  as  he  had  told  them  they  would,  they  fled :  yet  in  the 
night  they  came  again  to  the  same  place  where  he  had 
told  them  they  should  receive  an  answer,  and  such  things 
as  he  had  promised  them,  which  they  found  accordingly, 
and  with  which  they  returned  with  no  small  expedition,  to 
the  wonder  of  them  all  that  heard  it,  that  he  could  either 
divine  or  the  paper  could  speake.  Then  they  led  him  to 
the  Youthtanunds,  the  Mattapajiients,  the  Payankatanks, 
the  Na7itatightacnnds  and  Onaw?nanienfs,  upon  the  rivers 
of  Rapahanock  and  Patawomek,  over  all  those  rivers  and 
backe  againe  by  divers  other  severall  Nations,  to  the  King's 
habitation  at  Pamaunkee,  where  they  entertained  him  with 
most  strange  and  fearefull  conjurations ; 


i607-8]         THE  CHfCKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  1 19 

'  As  if  neare  led  to  hell, 
Amongst  the  Devils  to  dwell.' 

Not    long   after,   early  in  a  morning,   a   great    fire   was 
made  in  a  long  house,  and  a  mat  spread  on  the  one  side 
as  on  the  other;   on  the  one  they  caused  him  to  sit,  and 
all  the  guard  went  out  of  the  house,  and  presently  came 
skipping  in  a  great  grim  fellow,  all  painted  over  with  coale 
mingled  with  oyle  ;  and  many  Snakes  and  Wesels  skins 
stuffed  with  mosse,  and  all  their  tayles  tyed  together,  so 
as  they  met  on  the  crowne  of  his  head  in  a  tassell ;  and 
round  about  the  tassell  was  a  Coronet  of  feathers,  the 
skins  hanging  round  about  his  head,  backe,  and  shoulders, 
and  in  a  manner  covered  his  face ;  with  a  hellish  voyce  and 
a  rattle  in  his  hand.     With   most  strange   gestures   and 
passions  he  began  his  invocation,  and  environed  the  fire 
with  a  circle  of  meale ;  which  done  three  more  such  like 
devils  came  rushing  in  with  the  like  antique  tricks,  paint- 
ed halfe  blacke,  halfe  red  :  but  all  their  eyes  were  painted 
white,  and  some  red  stroakes  like  Mutchato's  along  their 
cheekes :  round  about  him  those  fiends  daunced  a  pretty 
while,  and  then  came  in  three  more  as  ugly  as  the  rest; 
with  red  eves  and  stroakes  over  their   blacke  faces,  at 
last  they  all  sat  downe  right  against  him  ;  three  of  them 
on  the  one  hand  of  the  chiefe  Priest,  and  three  on  the 
other.     Then  all  with  their  rattles  began  a  song,  which 
ended,  the  chiefe  Priest  layd  downe  five  wheat  cornes  :  then 
strayning  his  arms  and  hands  with  such  violence  that  he 
sweat,  and  his  veynes  swelled,  he  began  a  short  Oration : 
at  the  conclusion  they  all  gave  a  short  groane  ;  and  then 
layd  downe  three  graines  more.     After  that  began  their 
song  againe,  and  then  another  Oration,  ever  laying  down 
so  many  cornes  as  before,  til  they  had  twice  incirculed  the 
fire  ;   that  done  they  tooke  a  bunch  of  little  stickes  pre- 
pared for  that  purpose,  continuing  still  their  devotion,  and 
at  the  end  of  every  song  and  Oration  they  layd  downe  a 
sticke  betwixt  the  divisions  of  Corne.     Til  night,  neither 
he  nor  they  did  either  eate  or  drinke,  and  then  they  feast- 
ed merrily,  and  with  the  best  provisions  they  could  make. 
Three  dayes  they  used  this  Ceremony :  the  meaning  whereof 


I20  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  28-29 

they  told  him  was  to  know  if  he  intended  them  well  or  no. 
The  circle  of  meale  signified  their  Country,  the  circles  of 
corne  the  bounds  of  the  Sea,  and  the  stickes  his  Country. 
They  imagined  the  world  to  be  flat  and  round,  like  a 
trencher,  and  they  in  the  middest.  After  this  they  brought 
him  a  bagge  of  gunpowder,  which  they  carefully  preserved 
till  the  next  spring,  to  plant  as  they  did  their  corne,  be- 
cause they  would  be  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  that 
seede.  Opitchapam,  the  King's  brother,  invited  him  to 
his  house,  where  with  many  platters  of  bread,  foule,  and 
wild  beasts,  as  did  inviron  him,  he  bid  him  wellcome :  but 
not  any  of  them  would  eate  a  bit  with  him,  but  put  up  all 
the  remainder  in  Baskets.  At  his  returne  to  Opechanca- 
noughs,  all  the  King's  women  and  their  children  flocked 
about  him  for  their  parts,  as  a  due  by  Custome,  to  be 
merry  with  such  fragments. 

"  '  But  his  waking  mind  in  hydeous  dreames  did  oft  see  won- 
drous shapes 
Of  bodies  strange,  and  huge  in  growth,  and  of  stupendious 
makes.' 

At  last  they  brought  him  to  Meronocomoco,  where  was 
Powhatan  their  Emperor.  Here  more  than  two  hundred 
of  those  grim  Courtiers  stood  wondering  at  him,  as  he 
had  beene  a  monster,  till  Powhatan  and  his  trayne  had 
put  themselves  in  their  greatest  braveries.  Before  a  fire 
upon  a  seat  like  a  bedstead,  he  sat  covered  with  a  great 
robe,  made  of  Rarowcun  skinnes  and  all  the  tayles  hang- 
ing by.  On  either  hand  did  sit  a  young  wench  of  sixteen 
or  eighteen  years,  and  along  on  each  side  the  house,  two 
rowes  of  men,  and  behind  them  as  many  women,  with  all 
their  heads  and  shoulders  painted  red ;  many  of  their 
heads  bedecked  with  the  white  downe  of  Birds  ;  but  every- 
one with  something :  and  a  great  chayne  of  white  beads 
about  their  necks.  At  his  entrance  before  the  King,  all 
the  people  gave  a  great  shout.  The  Queene  of  Appama- 
tuck  was  appointed  to  bring  him  water  to  wash  his  hands, 
and  another  brought  him  a  bunch  of  feathers,  instead  of  a 
Towell  to  dry  them  :  having  feasted  him  after  their  best 


i6o7-8]         THE  CHJCKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  121 

barbarous  manner  they  could.  A  long  consultation  was 
held,  but  the  conclusion  was  two  great  stones  were  brought 
before  Powhatan ;  then  as  many  as  could  layd  hands  on 
him,  dragged  him  to  them,  and  thereon  laid  his  head,  and 
being  ready  with  their  clubs,  to  beate  out  his  braines. 
PocahojitaSy  the  King's  dearest  daughter,  when  no  entreaty 
could  prevaile,  got  his  head  in  her  armes,  and  laid  her 
owne  upon  his  to  save  him  from  death  :  whereat  the  Em- 
perour  was  contented  he  should  live  to  make  him  hatch- 
ets, and  her  bells,  beads,  and  copper :  for  they  thought 
him  as  well  of  all  occupations  as  themselves.  For  the 
King  himselfe  will  make  his  owne  robes,  shooes,  bowes, 
arrowes,  pots,  plant,  hunt,  or  doe  any  thing  so  well  as  the 
rest, 

"  '  They  say  he  bore  a  pleasant  shew, 
But  sure  his  heart  was  sad 
For  who  can  pleasant  be,  and  rest, 
That  lives  in  feare  and  dread. 
And  having  life  suspected,  doth 
If  still  suspected  lead.' 

Two  days  after,  Powhatan  having  disguised  himselfe  in 
the  most  fearfullest  manner  he  could,  caused  Capt.  Smith 
to  be  brought  forth  to  a  great  house  in  the  woods  and  there 
upon  a  mat  by  the  fire  to  be  left  alone.  Not  long  after 
from  behinde  a  mat  that  divided  the  house,  was  made  the 
most  dolefullest  noyse  he  ever  heard  :  then  Powhatafi 
more  like  a  devill  than  a  man  with  some  two  hundred 
more  as  blacke  as  himselfe,  came  unto  him  and  told  him 
now  they  were  friends,  and  presently  he  should  goe  to 
James  town,  to  send  him  two  great  gunnes,  and  a  grynd- 
stone,  for  which  he  would  give  him  the  country  of  Capa- 
howosick,  and  for  ever  esteeme  him  as  his  sonn  Nanta- 
quoted.  So  to  James  towne  with  12  guides  Powhata?i  sent 
him.  That  night  they  quartered  in  the  woods,  he  still 
expecting  (as  he  had  done  all  this  long  time  of  his  im- 
prisonment) every  houre  to  be  put  to  one  death  or  other; 
for  all  their  feasting.  But  almightie  God  (by  his  divine 
providence)  had  mollified  the  hearts  of  those  sterne  Bar- 


122  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28-29 

barians  with  compassion.  The  next  morning  betimes 
they  came  to  the  Fort,  where  Smith  having  used  the  sal- 
vages with  what  kindnesse  he  could,  he  shewed  Rawhuiit, 
Poiuhatan's  trusty  servant,  two  demi-culverings  and  a  mill- 
stone to  carry  Pmuhatan;  they  found  them  somewhat  too 
heavie  ;  but  when  they  did  see  him  discharge  them,  being 
loaded  with  stones,  among  the  boughs  of  a  great  tree 
loaded  with  Isickles,  the  yce  and  branches  came  so  tum- 
bling downe,  that  the  poore  Salvages  ran  away  halfe  dead 
with  feare.  But  at  last  we  regained  some  conference  with 
them  and  gave  them  such  toys  :  and  sent  to  PcmiJiataii,  his 
women,  and  children  such  presents,  and  gave  them  in  gen- 
erall  full  content.  Now  in  James  Towne  they  were  all  in 
combustion,  the  strongest  preparing  once  more  to  run  av.'ay 
with  the  Pinnace  ;  which  with  the  hazard  of  his  life,  with 
Sakre  falcon  and  musket-shot,  Smith  forced  now  the  third 
time  to  stay  or  sinke.  Some  no  better  then  they  should  be 
had  plotted  with  the  President,  the  next  day  to  have  put 
him  to  death  by  the  Leviticall  law,  for  the  lives  of  Robinson 
and  Emry,  pretending  the  fault  was  his  that  had  led  them  to 
their  ends ;  but  he  quickly  tooke  such  order  with  such 
Lawyers,  that  he  layed  them  by  the  heeles  till  he  sent  some 
of  them  prisoners  for  England.  Now  ever  once  in  four  or 
five  dayes,  Pocahontas  with  her  attendants,  brought  him 
so  much  provision,  that  saved  many  of  their  lives,  that  els 
for  all  this  had  starved  with  hunger. 

'  Thus  from  numbe  death  our  good  God  sent  reliefe, 
The  sweete  asswager  of  all  other  grief e.' 

His  relation  of  the  plenty  he  had  scene,  especially  at  Wer- 
aiuocomoco,  and  of  the  state  and  bountie  of  Powhatan 
(which  till  that  time  was  unknowne),  so  revived  their  dead 
spirits  (especially  the  love  of  Pocahontas)  as  all  men's 
feare  was  abandoned." 

We  should  like  to  think  original,  in  the  above,  the  fine 
passage,  in  which  Smith,  by  means  of  a  simple  com- 
pass dial,  demonstrated  the  roundness  of  the  earth,  and 


i6o7-8]         THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  1 23 

skies,  the  sphere  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars,  and  how 
the  sun  did  chase  the  night  round  about  the  world 
continually  ;  the  greatness  of  the  land  and  sea,  the 
diversity  of  nations,  variety  of  complexions,  and  how 
we  were  to  them  antipodes,  so  that  the  Indians  stood 
amazed  with  admiration.  Capt.  Smith  up  to  his  mid- 
dle in  a  Chickahominy  swamp,  discoursing  on  these 
high  themes  to  a  Pamunky  Indian,  of  whose  language 
Smith  was  wholly  ignorant,  and  who  did  not  under- 
stand a  word  of  English,  is  much  more  heroic,  con- 
sidei-ing  the  adverse  circumstances,  and  appeals  more 
to  the  imagination,  than  the  long-haired  lopas  singing 
the  song  of  Atlas,  at  the  banquet  given  to  ^neas, 
whereTrojans  and  Tyrians  drained  the  flowing  bumpers 
while  Dido  drank  long  draughts  of  love.  Did  Smith, 
when  he  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Carthage  pick 
up  some  such  literal  translations  of  the  song  of  Atlas* 

as  this : 

"  He  sang  the  wandering  moon,  and  the  labors  of  the  Sun; 
From  whence  the  race  of  men  and  flocks;  whence   rain  and 

lightning  ; 
Of  Arcturus,  the  rainy  Hyades,  and  the  twin  Triones; 
Why  the  winter  suns  hasten  so  much  to  touch  themselves  in 

the  ocean, 
And  what  delay  retards  the  slow  nights." 

The  scene  of  the  rescue  only  occupies  seven  lines, 
and  the  reader  feels  that  after  all  Smith  has  not  done 
full  justice  to  it.  We  cannot,  therefore,  better  con- 
clude this  romantic  episode  than  by  quoting  the  de- 
scription of  it  given  with  an  elaboration  of  language 
that  must  be  pleasing  to  the  shade  of  Smith,  by  John 
Burke  in  his  History  of  Virginia  : 

*  Virgil's  .(Eneid,  Book  I.  "Hie  canit  errantem  lunam." 


124  CAT  TAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28-29 

"  Two  large  stones  were  brought  in,  and  placed  at  the  feet 
of  the  emperor ;  and  on  them  was  laid  the  head  of  the 
prisoner ;  next  a  large  club  was  brought  in,  with  which 
Powhatan,  for  whom,  out  of  respect,  was  reserved  this 
honor,  prepared  to  crush  the  head  of  his  captive.  The  as- 
sembly looked  on  w^ith  sensations  of  awe,  probably  not 
unmixed  with  pity  for  the  fate  of  an  enemy  whose  bravery 
had  commanded  their  admiration,  and  in  whose  misfor- 
tunes their  hatred  was  possibly  forgotten. 

"  The  fatal  club  was  uplifted  :  the  breasts  of  the  company 
already  by  anticipation  felt  the  dreadful  crash,  which  was 
to  bereave  the  wretched  victim  of  life :  when  the  young 
and  beautiful  Pocahontas,  the  beloved  daughter  of  the 
emperor,  with  a  shriek  of  terror  and  agony  threw  herself 
on  the  body  of  Smith.  Her  hair  was  loose,  and  her  eyes 
streaming  with  tears,  while  her  whole  manner  bespoke 
the  deep  distress  and  agony  of  her  bosom.  She  cast  a 
beseeching  look  at  her  furious  and  astonished  father,  dep- 
recating his  wrath,  and  imploring  his  pity  and  the  life  of 
his  prisoner,  with  all  the  eloquence  of  mute  but  impas- 
sioned sorrow. 

"The  remainder  of  this  scene  is  honorable  to  Powhatan. 
It  will  remain  a  lasting  monument,  that  tho'  different  prin- 
ciples of  action,  and  the  influence  of  custom,  have  given 
to  the  manners  and  opinions  of  this  people  an  appearance 
neither  amiable  nor  virtuous,  they  still  retain  the  noblest 
property  of  human  character,  the  touch  of  pity  and  the 
feeling  of  humanity. 

"  The  club  of  the  emperor  was  still  uplifted  ;  but  pity  had 
touched  his  bosom,  and  his  eye  was  every  moment  losing 
its  fierceness  ;  he  looked  around  to  collect  his  fortitude, 
or  perhaps  to  find  an  excuse  for  his  weakness  in  the  faces 
of  his  attendants.  But  every  eye  was  suffused  with  the 
sweetly  contagious  softness.  The  generous  savage  no 
longer  hesitated.  The  compassion  of  the  rude  state  is 
neither  ostentatious  nor  dilating:  nor  does  it  insult  its 
object  by  the  exaction  of  impossible  conditions.  Pow- 
hatan lifted  his  grateful  and  delighted  daughter,  and  the 
captive,  scarcely  yet  assured  of  safety,  from  the  earth."— 


i6o7-8]  THE  CHICKAHOMINY  VOYAGE.  12$ 

"The  character  of  this  interesting  woman,  as  it  stands 
in  the  concurrent  accounts  of  all  our  historians,  is  not,  it 
is  with  confidence  affirmed,  surpassed  by  any  in  the  whole 
range  of  history ;  and  for  those  qualities  more  especially 
which  do  honor  to  our  nature — an  humane  and  feeling 
heart,  an  ardor  and  unshaken  constancy  in  her  attach- 
ments— she  stands  almost  without  a  rival. 

"At  the  first  appearance  of  the  Europeans  her  young 
heart  was  impressed  with  admiration  of  the  persons  and 
manners  of  the  sttangers;  but  it  is  not  during  their  pros- 
perity that  she  displays  her  attachment.  She  is  not  influ- 
enced by  awe  of  their  greatness,  or  fear  of  their  resent- 
ment, in  the  assistance  she  affords  them.  It  was  during 
their  severest  distresses,  when  their  most  celebrated  chief 
was  a  captive  in  their  hands,  and  was  dragged  through 
the  country  as  a  spectacle  for  the  sport  and  derision  of 
their  people,  that  she  places  herself  between  him  and 
destruction. 

"  The  spectacle  of  Pocahontas  in  an  attitude  of  entreaty, 
with  her  hair  loose,  and  her  eyes  streaming  with  tears, 
supplicating  with  her  enraged  father  for  the  life  of  Cap- 
tain Smith  when  he  was  about  to  crush  the  head  of  his 
prostrate  victim  with  a  club,  is  a  situation  equal  to  the 
genius  of  Raphael.  And  when  the  royal  savage  directs 
his  ferocious  glance  for  a  moment  from  his  victim  to  re- 
prove his  weeping  daughter,  when  softened  by  her  dis- 
tress his  eye  loses  its  fierceness,  and  he  gives  his  captive 
to  her  tears,  the  painter  will  discover  a  new  occasion  for 
exercising  his  talents." 

The  painters  have  availed  themselves  of  this  oppor- 
tunity. In  one  picture  Smith  is  represented  stifily 
extended  on  the  greensward  (of  the  woods),  his  head 
resting  on  a  stone,  appropriately  clothed  in  a  dress- 
coat,  knee-breeches,  and  silk  stockings ;  while  Pow- 
hatan and  the  other  savages  stand  ready  for  murder, 
in  full-dress  parade  costume ;  and  Pocahontas,  a  full- 
grown  woman,  with  long,  disheveled  hair,  in  the 
sentimental    dress  and  attitude  of  a  Letitia  E.  Lan- 


126  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  28-20 

don  of  the  period,  is   about  to  cast  herself  upon  the 
imperiled  and  well-dressed  Captain. 

Must  we,  then,  give  up  the  legend  altogether,  on 
account  of  the  exaggerations  that  have  grown  up 
about  it,  our  suspicion  of  the  creative  memory  of 
Smith,  and  the  lack  of  all  contemporary  allusion  to  it? 
It  is  a  pity  to  destroy  any  pleasing  story  of  the  past, 
and  especially  to  discharge  our  hard  struggle  for  a 
foothold  on  this  continent  of  the  few  elements  of  ro- 
mance. If  we  can  find  no  evidence  of  its  truth  that 
stands  the  test  of  fair  criticism,  we  may  at  least  believe 
that  it  had  some  slight  basis  on  which  to  rest.  It  is 
not  at  all  improbable  that  Pocahontas,  who  was  at 
that  time  a  precocious  maid  of  perhaps  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  of  age  (although  Smith  mentions  her  as  a 
child  of  ten  years  old  when  she  came  to  the  camp 
after  his  release),  was  touched  with  compassion  for 
the  captive,  and  did  influence  her  father  to  treat  him 
kindly. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

smith's    way    with    the    INDIANS. 

AS  we  are  not  endeavoring  to  write  the  early  history 
of  Virginia,  but  only  to  trace  Smith's  share  in  it, 
we  proceed  with  his  exploits  after  the  arrival  of  the 
first  supply,  consisting  of  near  a  hundred  men,  in  two 
ships,  one  commanded  by  Capt.  Newport  and  the 
other  by  Capt.  Francis  Nelson.  The  latter,  when  in 
sight  of  Cape  Henry,  was  driven  by  a  storm  back  to 
the  West  Indies,  and  did  not  arrive  at  James  River 
with  his  vessel,  the  Phoenix^  till  after  the  departure  of 
Newport  for  England  with  his  load  of  "  gold-dust," 
and  Master  Wingfield  and  Capt.  Arthur. 

In  his  "  True  Relation,"  Smith  gives  some  account 
of  his  exploration  of  the  Pamunky  River,  which  he 
sometimes  calls  the  "  Youghtamand,"  upon  which, 
where  the  water  is  salt,  is  the  town  of  Werowocomoco. 
It  can  serve  no  purpose  in  elucidating  the  character 
of  our  hero  to  attempt  to  identify  all  the  places  he 
visited. 

It  was  at  Werowocomoco  that  Smith  observed  cer- 
tain conjurations  of  the  medicine  men,  which  he  sup- 
posed had  reference  to  his  fate.  From  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning  till  six  at  night,  seven  of  the  savages,  with 
rattles  in  their  hands,  sang  and  danced  about  the  fire, 
laying  down  grains  of  corn  in  circles,  and  with  vehe- 
ment actions,  casting  cakes  of  deer  suet,  deer,  and 
tobacco  into  the  fire,  howling  without  ceasing.  One 
of  them  was  "  disfigured  with  a  great  skin,  his   head 


128  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

hung  around  with  little  skins  of  weasels  and  other 
vermin,  with  a  crownlet  of  feathers  on  his  head,  painted 
as  ugly  as  the  devil."  So  fat  they  fed  him  that  he 
much  doubted  they  intended  to  sacrifice  him  to  the 
Quiyoughquosicke,  which  is  a  superior  power  they 
worship:  a  more  uglier  thing  cannot  be  described. 
These  savages  buried  their  dead  with  great  sorrovv^ 
and  weeping,  and  they  acknowledge  no  resurrection. 
Tobacco  they  offer  to  the  water  to  secure  a  good 
passage  in  foul  weather.  The  descent  of  the  crown  is 
to  the  first  heirs  of  the  king's  sisters,  "  for  the  kings 
have  as  many  women  as  they  will,  the  subjects  two, 
and  most  but  one." 

After  Smith's  return,  as  we  have  read,  he  was  saved 
from  a  plot  to  take  his  life  by  the  timely  arrival  of 
Capt.  Newport.  Somewhere  about  this  time  the  great 
fire  occurred.  Smith  was  now  one  of  the  Council; 
Martin  and  Matthew  Scrivener,  just  named,  were  also 
councilors.  Ratcliffe  was  still  President.  The  sav- 
ages, owing  to  their  acquaintance  with  and  confidence 
in  Capt.  Smith,  sent  in  abundance  of  provision. 
Powhatan  sent  once  or  twice  a  week  "  deer,  bread, 
raugroughcuns  (probably  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  rahaughcuns  [raccoons]  spoken  of  before,  but 
probably  '  rawcomens,'  mentioned  in  the  Description 
of  Virginia),  half  for  Smith,  and  half  for  his  father, 
Capt.  Newport."  Smith  had,  in  his  intercouise  with 
the  natives,  extolled  the  greatness  of  Newport,  so  that 
they  conceived  him  to  be  the  chief  and  all  the  rest 
his  children,  and  regarded  him  as  an  oracle,  if  not  a 
god. 

Powhatan  and  the  rest  had,  therefore,  a  great  desire 
to  see  this  mighty  person.  Smith  says  that  the  Presi- 
dent and  Council  greatly  envied  his  reputation  with 
the    Indians,    and   wrought    upon    them    to    believe. 


i6o8]     SMITH'S   WAY  WITH  THE  INDIANS.        1 29 

by  giving  in  trade  four  times  as  much  as  the  price  set 
by^mith,  that  their  authority  exceeded  his  as  much  as 
their  bounty. 

We  must  give  Smith  the  credit  of  being  usually 
intent  upon  the  building  up  of  the  colony,  and  estab- 
lishing permanent  and  livable  relations  with  the 
Indians,  while  many  of  his  companions  in  authority 
seemed  to  regard  the  adventure  as  a  temporary  occur- 
rence, out  of  which  they  would  make  what  personal 
profit  they  could.  The  new-comers  on  t  vessel  always 
demoralized  the  trade  with  the  Indians,  by  paying 
extravagant  prices.  Smith's  relations  with  Capt.  New- 
port were  peculiar.  While  he  magnified  him  to  the 
Indians  as  the  great  power,  he  does  not  conceal  his 
own  opinion  of  his  ostentation  and  want  of  shrewd- 
ness. Smith's  attitude  was  that  of  a  priest  who  puts 
up  for  the  worship  of  the  vulgar  an  idol,  which  he 
knows  is  only  a  clay  image  stuffed  with  straw. 

In  the  great  joy  of  the  colony  at  the  arrival  of  the 
first  supply,  leave  was  given  to  sailors  to  trade  with 
the  Indians,  and  the  new-comers  soon  so  raised  prices 
that  it  needed  a  pound  of  copper  to  buy  a  quantity  of 
provisions  that  before  had  been  obtained  for  an  ounce. 
Newport  sent  great  presents  to  Powhatan,  and,  in 
response  to  the  wish  of  the  "Emperor,"  prepared  to 
visit  him.  "A  great  coyle  there  was  to  set  him  for- 
ward," says  Smith.  Mr.  Scrivener  and  Capt.  Smith, 
and  a  guard  of  thirty  or  forty,  accompanied  him.  On 
this  expedition  they  found  the  mouth  of  the  Pamaunck 
(now  York)  River.  Arriving  at  Werowocomoco,  New- 
port, fearing  treachery,  sent  Smith  with  twenty  men  to 
land  and  make  a  preliminary  visit.  When  they  came 
ashore  they  found  a  network  of  creeks  which  were 
crossed  by  very  shaky  bridges,  constructed  of  crotched 
sticks  and  poles,  which  had  so  much  the  appearance 


130  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  2g 

of  traps  that  Smith  would  not  cross  them  until  many 
of  the  Indians  had  preceded  him,  while  he  kept  others 
with  him  as  hostages.  Three  hundred  savages  con- 
ducted him  to  Powhatan,  who  received  him  in  great 
state.  Before  his  house  were  ranged  forty  or  fifty 
great  platters  of  fine  bread.  Entering  his  house,  "with 
loude  tunes  they  made  all  signs  of  great  joy."  In  the 
first  account  Powhatan  is  represented  as  surrounded 
by  his  principal  women  and  chief  men,  "  as  upon  a 
throne  at  the  upper  end  of  the  house,  with  such  majesty 
as  I  cannot  express,  nor  yet  have  often  seen,  either 
in  Pagan  or  Christian."  In  the  later  account  he  is 
"sitting  upon  his  bed  of  mats,  his  pillow  of  leather 
embroidered  (after  their  rude  manner  with  pearls  and 
white  beads),  his  attire  a  fair  robe  of  skins  as  large 
as  an  Irish  mantel;  at  his  head  and  feet  a  hand- 
some young  woman;  on  each  side  of  his  house  sat 
twenty  of  his  concubines,  their  heads  and  shoulders 
painted  red,  with  a  great  chain  of  white  beads  about 
each  of  their  necks.  Before  those  sat  his  chiefest  men 
in  like  order  in  his  arbor-like  house."  This  is  the  scene 
that  figures  in  the  old  copper-plate  engravings.  The 
Emperor  welcomed  Smith  with  a  kind  countenance, 
caused  him  to  sit  beside  him,  and  with  pretty  discourse 
they  renewed  their  old  acquaintance.  Smith  presented 
him  with  a  suit  of  red  cloth,  a  white  greyhound,  and 
a  hat.  The  Queen  of  Apamatuc,  a  comely  young 
savage,  brought  him  water,  a  turkey-cock,  and  bread 
to  eat.  Powhatan  professed  great  content  with  Smith, 
but  desired  to  see  his  father,  Capt.  Newport.  He 
inquired  also  with  a  merry  countenance  after  the  piece 
of  ordnance  that  Smith  had  promised  to  send  him,  and 
Smith,  with  equal  jocularity,  replied  that  he  had 
offered  the  men  four  demi-culverins,  which  they  found 
too  heavy  to  carry.     This  night  they  quartered  with 


i 


i6o8]     SMITH'S   WAY  WITH  THE  INDIANS.        I3I 

Powhatan,  and  were  liberally  feasted,  and  entertained 
with  singing,  dancing,  and  orations. 

The  next  day  Capt.  Newport  came  ashore.  The 
two  monarchs  exchanged  presents.  Newport  gave 
Powhatan  a  white  boy  thirteen  years  old,  named 
Thomas  Savage.  This  boy  remained  with  the  Indians 
and  served  the  colony  many  years  as  an  interpreter. 
Powhatan  gave  Newport  in  return  a  bag  of  beans  and 
an  Indian  named  Namontack  for  his  servant.  Three 
or  four  days  they  remained,  feasting,  dancing,  and 
trading  with  the  Indians. 

In  trade  the  wily  savage  was  more  than  a  match  for 
Newport.  He  affected  great  dignity  ;  it  was  unworthy 
such  great  werowances  to  dicker ;  it  was  not  agreeable 
to  his  greatness  in  a  peddling  manner  to  trade  for 
trifles ;  let  the  great  Newport  lay  down  his  commodi- 
ties all  together,  and  Powhatan  would  take  what  he 
wished,  and  recompense  him  with  a  proper  return. 
Smith,  who  knew  the  Indians  and  their  ostentation, 
told  Newport  that  the  intention  was  to  cheat  him,  but 
his  interference  was  resented.  The  result  justified 
Smith's  suspicion.  Newport  received  but  four  bushels 
of  corn  when  he  should  have  had  twenty  hogsheads. 
Smith  then  tried  his  hand  at  a  trade.  With  a  few  blue 
beads,  which  he  represented  as  of  a  rare  substance,  the 
color  of  the  skies,  and  worn  by  the  greatest  kings  in 
the  world,  he  so  inflamed  the  desire  of  Powhatan  that 
he  was  half  mad  to  possess  such  strange  jewels,  and 
gave  for  them  200  to  300  bushels  of  corn,  "  and  yet," 
says  Smith,  "parted  good  friends." 

At  this  time  Powhatan,  knowing  that  they  desired 
to  invade  or  explore  Monacan,  the  country  above  the 
Falls,  proposed  an  expedition,  with  men  and  boats, 
and  "  this  faire  tale  had  almost  made  Capt.  Newport 
undertake  by  this  means  to  discover  the  South  Sea," 


132  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [iEt.  29 

a  project  which  the  adventurers  had  always  in  mind. 
On  this  expedition  they  sojourned  also  with  the  King 
of  Pamaunke. 

Capt.  Newport  returned  to  England  on  the  loth  of 
April.  Mr.  Scrivener  and  Capt.  Smith  were  now  in 
fact  the  sustainers  of  the  colony.  They  made  short 
expeditions  of  exploration.  Powhatan  and  other  chiefs 
still  professed  friendship  and  sent  presents,  but  the 
Indians  grew  more  and  more  offensive,  lurking  about 
and  stealing  all  they  could  lay  hands  on.  Several  of 
them  were  caught  and  confined  in  the  fort,  and, 
guarded,  were  conducted  to  the  morning  and  evening 
prayers.  By  threats  and  slight  torture,  the  captives 
were  made  to  confess  the  hostile  intentions  of  Pow- 
hatan and  the  other  chiefs,  which  was  to  steal  their 
weapons  and  then  overpower  the  colony.  Rigorous 
measures  were  needed  to  keep  the  Indians  in  check, 
but  the  command  from  England  not  to  offend  the 
savages  was  so  strict  that  Smith  dared  not  chastise 
them  as  they  deserved.  The  history  of  the  colony  all 
this  spring  of  1608  is  one  of  labor  and  discontent,  of 
constant  annoyance  from  the  Indians,  and  expectations 
of  attacks.  On  the  20th  of  April,  while  they  were 
hewing  trees  and  setting  corn,  an  alarm  was  given 
which  sent  them  all  to  their  arms.  Fright  was  turned 
into  joy  by  the  sight  of  the  Fhcenix,  with  Capt.  Nelson 
and  his  company,  who  had  been  for  three  months 
detained  in  the  West  Indies,  and  given  up  for  lost. 

Being  thus  re-enforced.  Smith  and  Scrivener  desired 
to  explore  the  country  above  the  Falls,  and  got  ready 
an  expedition.  But  this,  Martin,  who  was  only  intent 
upon  loading  the  return  ship  with  "  his  phantastical 
gold,"  opposed,  and  Nelson  did  not  think  he  had 
authority  to  allow  it,  unless  they  would  bind  themselves 
to  pay  the  hire  of  the  ships.     The  project  was  there- 


i6o8]     SMITH'S  WAY  WITH  THE  INDIANS.       1 33 

fore  abandoned.  The  Indians  continued  their  depre- 
dations. Messages  daily  passed  between  the  fort  and 
the  Indians,  and  treachery  was  always  expected. 
About  this  time  the  boy  Thomas  Savage  was  re- 
turned, with  his  chest  and  clothing. 

The  colony  had  now  several  of  the  Indians  detained 
in  the  fort.  At  this  point  in  the  "True  Relation" 
occurs  the  first  mention  of  Pocahontas.  Smith  says: 
"  Powhatan,  understanding  we  detained  certain  Salv- 
ages, sent  his  daughter,  a  child  of  tenne  years  old, 
which  not  only  for  feature,  countenance,  and  proportion 
much  exceeded  any  of  his  people,  but  for  wit  and 
spirit,  the  only  nonpareil  of  his  country."  She  was 
accompanied  by  his  trusty  messenger  Rawhunt,  a 
crafty  and  deformed  savage,  who  assured  Smith  how 
much  Powhatan  loved  and  respected  him,  and,  that  he 
should  not  doubt  his  kindness,  had  sent  his  child, 
whom  he  most  esteemed,  to  see  him,  and  a  deer,  and 
bread  besides  for  a  present ;  "  desiring  us  that  the  boy 
might  come  again,  which  he  loved  exceedingly,  his 
little  daughter  he  had  taught  this  lesson  also :  not 
taking  notice  at  all  of  the  Indians  that  had  been 
prisoners  three  days,  till  that  morning  that  she  saw 
their  fathers  and  friends  come  quietly  and  in  good 
terms  to  entreat  their  libertv." 

Opechancanough  (the  King  of  "  Pamauk")  also 
sent  asking  the  release  of  two  that  were  his  friends; 
and  others,  apparently  with  confidence  in  the  whites, 
came  begging  for  the  release  of  the  prisoners.  "  In 
the  afternoon  they  being  gone,  we  guarded  them 
[the  prisoners]  as  before  to  the  church,  and  after 
prayer  gave  them  to  Pocahuntas,  the  King's 
daughter,  in  regard  to  her  father's  kindness  in 
sending  her:  after  having  well  fed  them,  as  all  the 
time  of  their  imprisonment,  we   gave  them   their 


134  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t,  2g 

bows,  arrows,  or  what  else  they  had,  and  with  much 
content  sent  them  packing;  Pocahuntas,  also,  we 
requited  with  such  trifles  as  contented  her,  to  tell 
that  we  had  used  the  Paspaheyans  very  kindly  in 
so  releasing  them," 

This  account  would  show  that  Pocahontas  was  a 
child  of  uncommon  dignity  and  self-control  for  her 
age.  In  his  letter  to  Queen  Anne,  written  in  1616, 
he  speaks  of  her  as  aged  twelve  or  thirteen  at  the 
time  of  his  captivity,  several  months  before  this  visit 
to  the  fort. 

The  colonists  still  had  reason  to  fear  ambuscades 
from  the  savages  lurking  about  in  the  woods.  One 
day  a  Paspahean  came  with  a  glittering  mineral 
stone,  and  said  he  could  show  them  great  abun- 
dance of  it.  Smith  went  to  look  for  this  mine,  but 
was  led  about  hither  and  thither  in  the  woods  till 
he  lost  his  patience  and  was  convinced  that  the 
Indian  v/as  fooling  him,  when  he  gave  him  twenty 
lashes  with  a  rope,  handed  him  his  bows  and  arrows, 
told  him  to  shoot  if  he  dared,  and  let  him  go.  Smith 
had  a  prompt  way  with  the  Indians.  He  always 
traded  "squarely"  with  them,  kept  his  promises, 
and  never  hesitated  to  attack  or  punish  them  when 
they  deserved  it.     They  feared  and  respected  him. 

The  colony  w^as  now  in  fair  condition,  in  good 
health,  and  contented;  and  it  was  believed,  though 
the  belief  was  not  well  founded,  that  they  would 
have  lasting  peace  with  the  Indians.  Capt.  Nelson's 
ship,  the  Fh(E7iix^  was  freighted  with  cedar  wood, 
and  was  dispatched  for  England  June  8,  1608. 
Capt.  Martin,  "always  sickly  and  unserviceable, 
and  desirous  to  enjoy  the  credit  of  his  supposed 
art  of  finding  the  gold  mine,"  took  passage.  Capt. 
Nelson  probably  carried  Smith's  "True  Relation." 


CHAPTER    X. 

DISCOVERY    OF    THE    CHESAPEAKE. 

ON  the  same  day  that  Nelson  sailed  for  England, 
Smith  set  out  to  explore  the  Chesapeake,  accom- 
panying the  Phoenix  as  far  as  Cape  Henry,  in  a  barge 
of  about  three  tons.  With  him  went  Dr.  Walter  Rus- 
sell, six  gentlemen,  and  seven  soldiers.  The  narrative 
of  the  voyage  is  signed  by  Dr.  Russell,  Thomas  Mom- 
ford,  gentleman,  and  Anas  Todkill,  soldier.  Master 
Scrivener  remained  at  the  fort,  where  his  presence  was 
needed  to  keep  in  check  the  prodigal  waste  of  the 
stores  upon  his  parasites  by  President  Ratcliffe. 

The  expedition  crossed  the  bay  at  "  Smith's  Isles," 
named  after  the  Captain,  touched  at  Cape  Charles,  and 
coasted  along  the  eastern  shore.  Two  stout  savages 
hailed  them  from  Cape  Charles,  and  directed  them  to 
Accomack,  whose  king  proved  to  be  the  most  comely 
and  civil  savage  they  had  yet  encountered. 

He  told  them  of  a  strange  accident  that  had  hap- 
pened. The  parents  of  two  children  who  had  died 
were  moved  by  some  phantasy  to  revisit  their  dead 
carcasses,  "  whose  benumbed  bodies  reflected  to  the 
eyes  of  the  beholders  such  delightful  countenances  as 
though  they  had  regained  their  vital  spirits."  This 
miracle  drew  a  great  part  of  the  King's  people  to 
behold  them,  nearly  all  of  whom  died  shortly  after- 
ward. These  people  spoke  the  language  of  Powhatan. 
Smith  explored  the  bays,  isles,  and  islets,  searching 
for  harbors  and  places  of  habitation.     He  was  a  born 


136  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

explorer  and  geographer,  as  his  remarkable  map  of 
Virginia  sufficiently  testifies.  The  company  was  much 
tossed  about  in  the  rough  waves  of  the  bay,  and  had 
great  difficulty  in  procuring  drinking-water.  They  en- 
tered the  Wighcocomoco,  on  the  east  side,  where  the 
natives  first  threatened  and  then  received  them  with 
songs,  dancing,  and  mirth.  A  point  on  the  mainland 
where  they  found  a  pond  of  fresh  water  they  named 
"  Poynt  Ployer  in  honor  of  the  most  honorable  house 
of  Monsay,  in  Britaine,  that  in  an  extreme  extremitie 
once  relieved  our  Captain."  This  reference  to  the 
Earl  of  Ployer,  who  was  kind  to  Smith  in  his  youth,  is 
only  an  instance  of  the  care  with  which  he  edited  these 
narratives  of  his  own  exploits,  wliich  were  nominally 
written  by  his  companions. 

The  explorers  were  now  assailed  with  violent  storms, 
and  at  last  took  refuge  for  two  days  on  some  unin- 
habited islands,  which  by  reason  of  the  ill  weather  and 
the  hurly-burly  of  thunder,  lightning,  wind  and  rain, 
they  called  "  Limbo."  Repairing  their  torn  sails  with 
their  shirts,  they  sailed  for  the  mainland  on  the  east, 
and  ran  into  a  river  called  Cuskarawook  (perhaps  the 
present  Annomessie),  where  the  inhabitants  received 
them  with  showers  of  arrows,  ascending  the  trees  and 
shooting  at  them.  The  next  day  a  crowd  came 
dancing  to  the  shore,  making  friendly  signs,  but 
Smith,  suspecting  villainy,  discharged  his  muskets  into 
them.  Landing  toward  evening,  the  explorers  found 
many  baskets  and  much  blood,  but  no  savages.  The 
following  day,  savages  to  the  number,  the  account 
wildly  says,  of  two  or  three  thousand,  came  to  visit 
them,  and  were  very  friendly.  These  tribes  Smith 
calls  the  Sarapinagh,  Nause,  Arseek,  and  Nantaquak, 
and  says  they  are  the  best  merchants  of  that  coast. 
They  told  him   of  a  great  nation,  called   the  Massa- 


i6o8]       DISCOVERY  OF    THE  CHESAPEAKE.         1 37 

womeks,  of  whom  he  set  out  in  search,  passing  by  the 
Limbo,  and  coasting  the  west  side  of  Chesapeake  Bay. 
The  people  on  the  east  side  he  describes  as  of  small 
stature. 

They  anchored  at  night  at  a  place  called  Richard's 
Cliffs,  north  of  the  Pawtuxet,  and  from  thence  went  on 
till  they  reached  the  first  river  navigable  for  ships,  which 
they  named  the  Bolus,  and  which  by  its  position  on 
Smith's  map  may  be  the  Severn  or  the  Patapsco. 

The  men  now,  having  been  kept  at  the  oars  ten  days, 
tossed  about  by  storms,  and  w4th  nothing  to  eat  but 
bread  rotten  from  the  wet,  supposed  that  the  Captain 
would  turn  about  and  go  home.  But  he  reminded 
them  how  the  company  of  Ralph  Lane,  in  like  circum- 
stances, importuned  him  to  proceed  with  the  discovery 
of  Moratico,  alleging  that  they  had  yet  a  dog  that 
boiled  with  sassafras  leaves  would  richly  feed  them. 
He  could  not  think  of  returning  yet,  for  they  were 
scarce  able  to  say  where  they  had  been,  nor  had  yet 
heard  of  what  they  were  sent  to  seek.  He  exhorted 
them  to  abandon  their  childish  fear  of  being  lost  in 
these  unknown,  large  waters,  but  he  assured  them  that 
return  he  would  not,  till  he  had  seen  the  Massawomeks 
and  found  the  Patowomek. 

On  the  i6th  of  June  they  discovered  the  River 
Patowomek  (Potomac),  seven  miles  broad  at  the 
mouth,  up  which  they  sailed  thirty  miles  before  they 
encountered  any  inhabitants.  Four  savages  at  length 
appeared  and  conducted  them  up  a  creek  where  were 
three  or  four  thousand  in  ambush,  "  so  strangely 
painted,  grimed  and  disguised,  shouting,  yelling,  and 
crying  as  so  many  spirits  from  hell  could  not  have 
showed  more  terrible."  But  the  discharge  of  the  fire- 
arms and  the  echo  in  the  forest  so  appeased  their  fury 
that  they  threw  down  their  bows,  exchanged  hostages, 


138  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  29 

and  kindly  used  the  strangers.  The  Indians  told  him 
that  Powhatan  had  commanded  them  to  betray  them, 
and  the  serious  charge  is  added  that  Powhatan  "  so 
directed  from  the  discontents  at  Jamestown  because 
our  Captain  did  cause  them  to  stay  in  their  country 
against  their  wills."  This  reveals  the  suspicion  and 
thoroughly  bad  feeling  existing  among  the  colonists. 

The  expedition  went  up  the  river  to  a  village  called 
Patowomek,  and  thence  rowed  up  a  little  River  Qui- 
yough  (Acquia  Creek  ?)  in  search  of  a  mountain  of 
antimony,  which  they  found.  The  savages  put  this  an- 
timony up  in  little  bags  and  sold  it  all  over  the  country  to 
paint  their  bodies  and  faces,  which  made  them  look  like 
Blackamoors  dusted  over  with  silver.  Some  bags  of 
this  they  carried  away,  and  also  collected  a  good 
amount  of  furs  of  otters,  bears,  martens,  and  minks.  Fish 
were  abundant,  "  lying  so  thick  with  their  heads  above 
water,  as  for  want  of  nets  (our  barge  driving  among 
them)  we  attempted  to  catch  them  with  a  frying-pan ; 
but  we  found  it  a  bad  instrument  to  catch  fish  with , 
neither  better  fish,  more  plenty,  nor  more  variety  for 
small  fish,  had  any  of  us  ever  seen  in  any  place,  so 
swimming  in  the  water,  but  they  are  not  to  be  caught 
with  frying-pans." 

In  all  his  encounters  and  quarrels  with  the  treacher- 
ous savages  Smith  lost  not  a  man  ;  it  was  his  habit 
when  he  encountered  a  body  of  them  to  demand  their 
bows,  arrows,  swords,  and  furs,  and  a  child  or  two  as 
hostages. 

Having  finished  his  discovery  he  returned.  Pass- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  Rappahannock,  by  some  called 
the  Tappahannock,  where-  in  shoal  water  were  many 
fish  lurking  in  the  weeds.  Smith  had  his  first  expe- 
rience of  the  Stingray.  It  chanced  that  the  Captain 
took  one  of  these  fish  from  his  sword,  "  not  know- 


i6o8]       DISCOVERY  OF  THE  CHESAPEAKE.         1 39 

ing  her  condition,  being  much  the  fashion  of  a  Thorn- 
beck,  but  a  long  tayle  like  a  riding  rodde  whereon 
the  middest  is  a  most  poysonne  sting  of  two  or  three 
inches  long,  bearded  like  a  saw  on  each  side,  which 
she  struck  into  the  wrist  of  his  arme  neare  an  inch  and 
a  half."  The  arm  and  shoulder  swelled  so  much,  and 
the  torment  was  so  great,  that  "we  all  with  much  sor- 
row concluded  his  funerale,  and  prepared  his  grave  in 
an  island  by,  as  himself  directed."  But  it "  pleased  God 
by  a  precious  oyle  Dr.  Russell  applied  to  it  that  his 
tormenting  paine  was  so  assuged  that  he  ate  of  that 
fish  to  his  supper." 

Setting  sail  for  Jamestown,  and  arriving  at  Kecough- 
tan,  the  sight  of  the  furs  and  other  plunder,  and  of 
Captain  Smith  wounded,  led  the  Indians  to  think  that 
he  had  been  at  war  with  the  Massawomeks  ;  which 
opinion  Smith  encouraged.  They  reached  Jamestown 
July  21,  in  fine  spirits,  to  find  thecolony  in  a  mutinous 
condition,  the  last  arrivals  all  sick,  and  the  others  on 
the  point  of  revenging  themselves  on  the  silly  Presi- 
dent, who  had  brought  them  all  to  misery  by  his 
riotous  consumption  of  the  stores,  and  by  forcing  them 
to  work  on  an  unnecessary  pleasure-house  for  himself 
in  the  woods.  They  were  somewhat  appeased  by  the 
good  news  of  the  discovery,  and  in  the  belief  that  their 
bay  stretched  into  the  South  Sea;  and  submitted  on 
condition  that  Ratcliffe  should  be  deposed  and  Cap- 
tain Smith  take  upon  himself  the  government,  "  as  by 
course  it  did  belong."  He  consented,  but  substituted 
Mr.  Scrivener,  his  dear  friend,  in  the  presidency,  dis- 
tributed the  provisions,  appointed  honest  men  to  assist 
Mr.  Scrivener,  and  set  out  on  the  24th,  with  twelve 
men,  to  finish  his  discovery. 

He  passed  by  the  Patowomek  River  and  hasted   to 
the  River  Bolus,  which  he  had  before  visited.    On  the 


140  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

bay  they  fell  in  with  seven  or  eight  canoes  full  of  the  re- 
nowned Massawomeks,  with  whom  they  had  a  fight,  but 
at  length  these  savages  became  friendly  and  gave  them 
bows,  arrows,  and  skins.  They  were  at  war  with  the 
Tockwoghes.  Proceeding  up  the  River  Tockwogh,  the 
latter  Indians  received  them  with  friendship,  because 
they  had  the  weapons  which  they  supposed  had  been 
captured  in  a  fight  with  the  Massawomeks.  These 
Indians  had  hatchets,  knives,  pieces  of  iron  and  brass, 
they  reported  came  from  the  Susquesahanocks,  a 
mighty  people,  the  enemies  of  the  Massawomeks, 
living  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  As  Smith  in  his  barge 
could  not  ascend  to  them,  he  sent  an  interpreter  to  re- 
quest a  visit  from  them.  In  three  or  four  days  sixty 
of  these  giant-like  people  came  down  with  presents  of 
venison,  tobacco-pipes  three  feet  in  length,  baskets, 
targets,  and  bows  and  arrows.  Some  further  notice  is 
necessary  of  this  first  appearance  of  the  Susquehan- 
nocks,  who  became  afterwards  so  well  known,  by 
reason  of  their  great  stature  and  their  friendliness. 
Portraits  of  these  noble  savages  appeared  in  De  Bry's 
voyages,  which  were  used  in  Smith's  map,  and  also  by 
Strachey.  These  beautiful  copper-plate  engravings 
spread  through  Europe  most  exaggerated  ideas  of 
the  American  savages. 

"Our  order,"  says  Smith,  "was  daily  to  have 
prayers,  with  a  psalm,  at  which  solemnity  the  poor 
savages  wondered."  When  it  was  over  the  Susquesa- 
hanocks, in  a  fervent  manner,  held  up  their  hands  to 
the  sun,  and  then  embracing  the  Captain,  adored  him 
in  like  manner.  With  a  furious  manner  and  "  a  hellish 
voyce"  they  began  an  oration  of  their  loves,  covered 
him  with  their  painted  bear-skins,  hung  a  chain  of  white 
beads  about  his  neck,  and  hailed  his  creation  as  their 
governor  and  protector,  promising  aid  and  victuals  \i 


i6o8]       DISCOVERY  OF   THE  CHESAPEAKE.         14I 

he  would  stay  and  help  them  fight  the  Massawomeks. 
Much  they  told  him  of  the  Atquanachuks,  who  live  on 
the  Ocean  Sea,  the  Massawomeks  and  other  people 
living  on  a  great  water  beyond  the  mountain  (which 
Smith  understood  to  be  some  great  lake  or  the  river 
of  Canada),  and  that  they  received  their  hatchets  and 
other  commodities  from  the  French.  They  mourned 
greatly  at  Smith's  departure.  Of  Powhatan  they  knew 
nothing  but  the  name. 

Strachey,  who  probably  enlarges  from  Smith  his  ac- 
count of  the  same  people,  whom  he  calls  Sasquesa- 
hanougs,  says  they  were  well-proportioned  giants,  but 
of  an  honest  and  simple  disposition.  Their  language 
well  beseemed  their  proportions,  "  sounding  from  them 
as  it  were  a  great  voice  in  a  vault  or  cave,  as  an  ecco." 
The  picture  of  one  of  these  chiefs  is  given  in  De  Bry 
and  described  by  Strachey,  "  the  calf  of  whose  leg 
was  three  quarters  of  a  yard  about,  and  all  the  rest  of 
his  limbs  so  answerable  to  the  same  proportions  that 
he  seemed  the  goodliest  man  they  ever  saw." 

It  would  not  entertain  the  reader  to  follow  Smith 
in  all  the  small  adventures  of  the  exploration,  during 
which  he  says  he  went  about  3000  miles  (three  thou- 
sand miles  in  three  or  four  weeks  in  a  row-boat  is 
nothing  in  Smith's  memory),  "with  such  watery  diet  in 
these  great  waters  and  barbarous  countries."  Much 
hardship  he  endured,  alternately  skirmishing  and  feast- 
ing with  the  Indians  ;  many  were  the  tribes  he  struck 
an  alliance  with,  and  many  valuable  details  he  added 
to  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  region.  In  all 
this  exploration  Smith  showed  himself  skillful  as  he 
was  vigorous  and  adventurous. 

He  returned  to  James  River  September  7th.  Many 
had  died,  some  were  sick,  Ratcliffe,  the  late  President, 
was  a  prisoner  for  mutiny,  jNIaster  Scrivener  had  dili- 


142  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

gently  gatl^ered  the  harvest,  but  much  of  the  provi- 
sions had  been  spoiled  by  rain.  Thus  the  summer  was 
consumed,  and  nothing  had  been  accomplished  except 
Smith's  discovery. 


CHAPTER    XI. 
smith's  presidency  and  prowess. 

ON  the  tenth  of  September,  by  the  election  of  the 
Council  and  the  request  of  the  company,  Capt. 
Smith  received  the  letters  patent,  and  became  Presi- 
dent. He  stopped  the  building  of  Ratcliffe's  "  palace," 
repaired  the  church  and  the  store-house,  got  ready  the 
buildings  for  the  supply  expected  from  England,  re- 
duced the  fort  to  a  "  five  square  form,"  set  and  trained 
the  watch  and  exercised  the  company  every  Saturday 
on  a  plain  called  Smithfield,  to  the  amazement  of  the 
on-looking  Indians. 

Capt.  Newport  arrived  with  a  new  supply  of  seventy 
persons.  Among  them  were  Capt.  Francis  West, 
brother  to  Lord  Delaware,  Capt.  Peter  Winne,  and 
Capt.  Peter  Waldo,  appointed  on  the  Council,  eight 
Dutchmen  and  Poles,  and  Mistress  Forest  and  Anne 
Burrows  her  maid,  the  first  white  women  in  the  colony. 

Smith  did  not  relish  the  arrival  of  Capt.  Newport 
nor  the  instructions  under  which  he  returned.  He 
came  back  commanded  to  discover  the  countrv  of 
Monacan  (above  the  Falls)  and  to  perform  the  cere- 
mony of  coronation  on  the  Emperor  Powhatan. 

How  Newport  got  this  private  commission  when  he 
had  returned  to  England  without  a  lump  of  gold,  nor 
any  certainty  of  the  South  Sea,  or  one  of  the  lost  com- 
pany sent  out  by  Raleigh ;  and  why  he  brought  a  "  fine 
peeced  barge"  which  must  be  carried  over  unknown 
mountains  before  it  reached  the  South  Sea,  he  could 


144  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  29 

not  understand.  "  As  for  the  coronation  of  Powhatan 
and  his  presents  of  basin  and  ewer,  bed,  bedding, 
clothes,  and  such  costly  novelties,  they  had  been  much 
better  well  spared  than  so  ill  spent,  for  we  had  his 
favor  and  better  for  a  plain  piece  of  copper,  till  this 
stately  kind  of  soliciting  made  him  so  much  overvalue 
himself  that  he  respected  us  as  much  as  nothing  at  all," 
Smith  evidently  understood  the  situation  much  better 
than  the  promoters  in  England;  and  we  can  quite  ex- 
cuse him  in  his  rage  over  the  foolishness  and  greed  of 
most  of  his  companions.  There  was  little  nonsense 
about  Smith  in  action,  though  he  need  not  turn  his 
hand  on  any  man  of  that  age  as  a  boaster. 

To  send  out  Poles  and  Dutchmen  to  make  pitch, 
tar,  and  glass  would  have  been  well  enough  if  the  col- 
ony had  been  firmly  established  and  supplied  with 
necessaries ;  and  they  might  have  sent  two  hundred 
colonists  instead  of  seventy,  if  they  had  ordered  them 
to  go  to  work  collecting  provisions  of  the  Indians  for 
the  winter,  instead  of  attempting  this  strange  discov- 
ery of  the  South  Sea,  and  wasting  their-  time  on  a  more 
strange  coronation.  "  Now  was  there  no  way,"  asks 
Smith,  "to  make  us  miserable,"  but  by  direction  from 
England  to  perform  this  discovery  and  coronation, 
"  to  take  that  time,  spend  what  victuals  we  had,  tire 
and  starve  our  men,  having  no  means  to  carry  victuals, 
ammunition,  the  hurt  or  the  sick,  but  on  their  own 
backs?" 

Smith  seems  to  have  protested  against  all  this  non- 
sense, but  though  he  was  governor,  the  Council  over- 
ruled him.  Capt.  Newport  decided  to  take  one 
hundred  and  twenty  men,  fearing  to  go  with  a  less 
number,  and  journey  to  Werowocomoco  to  crown  Pow- 
hatan. In  order  to  save  time  Smith  offered  to  take  a 
message    to    Powhatan,    and  induce  him  to  come    to 


i6o8j   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS     145 

Jamestown  and  receive  the  honor  and  the  presents. 
Accompanied  by  only  four  men  he  crossed  by  land  to 
Werowocomoco,  passed  the  Pamaunkee(York)  River  in 
a  canoe,  and  sent  for  Powhatan,  who  was  thirty  miles 
off.  Meantime  Pocahontas,  who  by  his  own  account 
was  a  mere  child,  and  her  women  entertained  Smith  in 
the  following  manner  : 

"  In  a  fayre  plaine  they  made  a  fire,  before  which,  sitting 
upon  a  mat,  suddenly  amongst  the  woods  was  heard  such  a 
hydeous  noise  and  shreeking  that  the  English  betook 
themselves  to  their  armes,  and  seized  upon  two  or  three 
old  men,  by  them  supposing  Powhatan  with  all  his  power 
was  come  to  surprise  them.  But  presently  Pocahontas 
came,  willing  him  to  kill  her  if  any  hurt  were  intended, 
and  the  beholders,  which  were  men,  women  and  children, 
satisfied  the  Captaine  that  there  was  no  such  matter. 
Then  presently  they  were  presented  with  this  anticke : 
Thirty  young  women  came  naked  out  of  the  woods,  only 
covered  behind  and  before  with  a  few  greene  leaves,  their 
bodies  all  painted,  some  of  one  color,  some  of  another,  but 
all  differing ;  their  leader  had  a  fayre  payre  of  Bucks 
homes  on  her  head,  and  an  Otters  skinne  at  her  girdle,  and 
another  at  her  arme,  a  quiver  of  arrows  at  her  backe,  a 
bow  and  arrows  in  her  hand  ;  the  next  had  in  her  hand  a 
sword,  another  a  club,  another  a  pot-sticke :  all  horned 
alike  ;  the  rest  every  one  with  their  several  devises.  These 
fiends  with  most  hellish  shouts  and  cries,  rushing  from 
among  the  trees,  cast  themselves  in  a  ring  about  the  fire, 
singing  and  dancing  with  most  excellent  ill-varietie,  oft 
falling  into  their  infernal  passions,  and  solemnly  again  to 
sing  and  dance  ;  having  spent  nearly  an  hour  in  this  Mas- 
carado,  as  they  entered,  in  like  manner  they  departed. 

"  Having  reaccommodated  themselves,  they  solemnly 
invited  him  to  their  lodgings,  where  he  was  no  sooner 
within  the  house,  but  all  these  Nymphs  more  tormented 
him  than  ever,  with  crowding,  pressing,  and  hanging  about 
him,  most  tediously  crying,  "  Love  you  not  me?  Love  you 


146  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

not  me  ?"  This  salutation  ended,  the  feast  was  set,  con- 
sisting of  all  the  Salvage  dainties  they  could  devise :  some 
attending,  others  singing  and  dancing  about  them  :  which 
mirth  being  ended  with  fire  brands,  instead  of  torches  they 
conducted  him  to  his  lodging." 

The  next  day  Powhatan  arrived.  Smith  delivered 
up  the  Indian  Namontuck,  who  had  just  returned  from 
a  voyage  to  England — whither  it  was  suspected  the 
Emperor  wished  him  to  go  to  spy  out  the  weakness  of 
the  English  tribe — and  repeated  Father  Newport's  re- 
quest that  Powhatan  would  come  to  Jamestown  to  re- 
ceive the  presents  and  join  in  an  expedition  against 
his  enemies,  the  Monacans. 

Powhatan's  reply  was  worthy  of  his  imperial  high- 
ness, and  has  been  copied  ever  since  in  the  speeches 
of  the  lords  of  the  soil  to  the  palefaces:  "If your 
king  has  sent  me  present,  I  also  am  a  king,  and  this 
is  my  land  :  eight  days  I  will  stay  to  receive  them. 
Your  father  is  to  come  to  me,  not  I  to  him,  nor  yet  to 
your  fort,  neither  will  I  bite  at  such  a  bait ;  as  for  the 
Monacans,  I  can  revenge  my  own  injuries." 

This  was  the  lofty  potentate  whom  Smith,  by  his 
way  of  management,  could  have  tickled  out  of  his 
senses  with  a  glass  bead,  and  who  would  infinitely 
have  preferred  a  big  shining  copper  kettle  to  the  mis- 
placed honor  intended  to  be  thrust  upon  him,  but  the 
offer  of  which  puffed  him  up  beyond  the  reach  of 
negotiation.  Smith  returned  with  his  message.  New- 
port dispatched  the  presents  round  by  water  a  hun- 
dred miles,  and  the  Captains,  with  fifty  soldiers,  went 
over  land  to  Werowocomoco,  where  occurred  the 
ridiculous  ceremony  of  the  coronation,  which  Smith 
describes  with  much  humor.  "  The  next  day,"  he 
says,  "  was  appointed  for  the  coronation.  Then  the 
presents  were  brought  him,  his  bason   and  ewer,  bed 


i6o8]    SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.     1 4/ 

and  furniture  set  up,  his  scarlet  cloke  and  apparel, 
with  much  adoe  put  on  him,  being  persuaded  by 
Namontuck  they  would  not  hurt  him.  But  a  foule 
trouble  there  was  to  make  him  kneel  to  receive  his 
Crown  ;  he  not  knowing  the  majesty  nor  wearing  of  a 
Crown,  nor  bending  of  the  knee,  endured  so  many 
persuasions,  examples  and  instructions  as  tyred  them 
all.  At  last  by  bearing  hard  on  his  shoulders,  he  a 
little  stooped,  and  three  having  the  crown  in  their 
hands  put  it  on  his  head,  when  by  the  warning  of  a 
pistoU  the  boats  were  prepared  with  such  a  volley  of 
shot  that  the  king  start  up  in  a  horrible  feare,  till  he 
saw  all  was  well.  Then  remembering  himself  to  con- 
gratulate their  kindness  he  gave  his  old  shoes  and  his 
mantell  to  Capt.  Newport" ! 

The  Monacan  expedition  the  King  discouraged,  and 
refused  to  furnish  for  it  either  guides  or  men.  Besides 
his  old  shoes,  the  crowned  monarch  charitably  gave 
Newport  a  little  heap  of  corn,  only  seven  or  eight 
bushels,  and  with  this  little  result  the  absurd  expedi- 
tion returned  to  Jamestown. 

Shortly  after  Capt.  Newportwith  a  chosen  company 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  (leaving  eighty  with 
President  Smith  in  the  fort)  and  accompanied  by  Capt. 
Waldo,  Lieut.  Percy,  Capt.  Winne,  Mr.  West,  and  Mr. 
Scrivener,  who  was  eager  for  adventure,  set  off  for  the 
discovery  of  Monacan.  The  expedition,  as  Smith 
predicted,  was  fruitless  :  the  Indians  deceived  them 
and  refused  to  trade,  and  the  company  got  back  to 
Jamestown,  half  of  them  sick,  all  grumbling,  and  worn 
out  with  toil,  famine  and  discontent. 

Smith  at  once  set  the  whole  colony  to  work,  some 
to  make  glass,  tar,  pitch,  and  soap-ashes,  and  others 
he  conducted  five  miles  down  the  river  to  learn  to  fell 
trees  and  make  clapboards.     In  this  company  were  a 


148  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [iEt.  29 

couple  of  gallants,  lately  come  over,  Gabriel  Beadle 
and  John  Russell,  proper  gentlemen,  but  unused  to 
hardships,  whom  Smith  has  immortalized  by  his  novel 
cure  of  their  profanity.  They  took  gayly  to  the  rough 
life,  and  entered  into  the  attack  on  the  forest  so  pleas- 
antly that  in  a  week  they  were  masters  of  chopping : 
"making  it  their  delight  to  hear  the  trees  thunder  as 
they  fell,  but  the  axes  so  often  blistered  their  tender 
fingers  that  many  times  every  third  blow  had  a  loud 
othe  to  drown  the  echo ;  for  remedie  of  which  sinne 
the  President  devised  how  to  have  every  man's  othes 
numbered,  and  at  night  for  every  othe  to  have  a  Canne 
of  water  powred  downe  his  sleeve,  with  which  every 
offender  was  so  washed  (himself  and  all),  that  a  man 
would  scarce  hear  an  othe  in  a  weake."  In  the  clear- 
ing of  our  country  since,  this  excellent  plan  has  fallen 
into  desuetude,  for  want  of  any  pious  Capt.  Smith 
in  the  logging  camps. 

These  gentlemen,  says  Smith,  did  not  spend  their 
time  in  wood-logging  like  hirelings,  but  entered  into  it 
with  such  spirit  that  thirty  of  them  would  accomplish 
more  than  a  hundred  of  the  sort  that  had  to  be  driven 
to  work;  yet,  he  sagaciously  adds,  "twenty  good  work- 
men had  been  better  than  them  all." 

Returning  to  the  fort.  Smith,  as  usual,  found  the 
time  consumed  and  no  provisions  got,  and  Newport's 
ship  lying  idle  at  a  great  charge.  With  Percy  he  set 
out  on  an  expedition  for  corn  to  the  Chickahominy, 
which  the  insolent  Indians,  knowing  their  want,  would 
not  supply.  Perceiving  that  it  was  Powhatan's  policy 
to  starve  them  (as  if  it  was  the  business  of  the  Indians 
to  support  all  the  European  vagabonds  and  adventur- 
ers who  came  to  dispossess  them  of  their  country). 
Smith  gave  out  that  he  came  not  so  much  for  corn  as 
to  revenge  his  imprisonment  and  the  death  of  his  men 


i6o8]   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.      I49 

murdered  by  the  Indians,  and  proceeded  to  make  war. 
This  high-handed  treatment  made  the  savages  sue  for 
peace,  and  furnish,  although  they  complained  of  want 
themselves,  owing  to  a  bad  harvest,  a  hundred  bushels 
of  corn. 

This  supply  contented  the  company,  who  feared 
nothing  so  much  as  starving,  and  yet,  says  Smith,  so 
envied  him  that  they  would  rather  hazard  starving 
than  have  him  get  reputation  by  his  vigorous  conduct. 
There  is  no  contemporary  account  of  that  period  ex- 
cept this  which  Smith  indited.  He  says  that  Newport 
and  Ratcliffe  conspired  not  only  to  depose  him  but  to 
keep  him  out  of  the  fort ;  since  being  President  they 
could  not  control  his  movements,  but  that  their  horns 
were  much  too  short  to  effect  it. 

At  this  time  in  the  "  old  Taverne,"  as  Smith  calls  the 
fort,  everybody  who  had  money  or  goods  made  all  he 
could  by  trade;  soldiers,  sailors  and  savages  were 
agreed  to  barter,  and  there  was  more  care  to  maintain 
their  damnable  and  private  trade  than  to  provide  the 
things  necessary  for  the  colony.  In  a  few  weeks  the 
whites  had  bartered  away  nearly  all  the  axes,  chisels, 
hoes  and  picks,  and  what  powder,  shot  and  pike-heads 
they  could  steal,  in  exchange  for  furs,  baskets,  young 
beasts  and  such  like  commodities.  Though  the  sup- 
ply of  furs  was  scanty  in  Virginia,  one  master  con- 
fessed he  had  got  in  one  voyage  by  this  private  trade 
what  he  sold  in  England  for  thirty  pounds.  "These 
are  the  Saint-seeming  Worthies  of  Virginia,"  indig- 
nantly exclaims  the  President,  "  that  have,  notwith- 
standing all  this,  meate,  drinke  and  wages."  But 
now  they  began  to  get  weary  of  the  country,  their 
trade  being  prevented.  "  The  loss,  scorn  and  misery 
was  the  poor  officers,  gentlemen  and  careless  governors, 
who  were  bought  and  sold."     The  adventurers  were 


150  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

cheated,  and    all  their   actions    overthrown    by   false 
information  and  unwise  directions. 

Master  Scrivener  was  sent  with  the  barges  and  pin- 
nace to  Werowocomoco,  where  by  the  aid  of  Namon- 
tuck  he  procured  a  little  corn,  though  the  savages 
were  more  ready  to  fight  than  to  trade.  At  length 
Newport's  ship  was  loaded  with  clapboards,  pitch,  tar, 
glass,  frankincense  (?)  and  soap-ashes,  and  dispatched 
to  England.  About  two  hundred  men  were  left  in  the 
colony.  With  Newport  Smith  sent  his  famous  letter 
to  the  Treasurer  and  Council  in  England.  It  is  so 
good  a  specimen  of  Smith's  ability  with  the  pen,  re- 
veals so  well  his  sagacity  and  knowledge  of  what  a 
colony  needed,  and  exposes  so  clearly  the  ill-manage- 
ment of  the  London  promoters,  and  the  condition  of 
the  colony,  that  we  copy  it  entire.  It  appears  by  this 
letter  that  Smith's  "Map  of  Virginia,"  and  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  country  and  its  people,  which  were  not 
published  till  1612,  were  sent  by  this  opportunity. 
Capt.  Newport  sailed  for  England  late  in  the  autumn 
of  1608.     The  letter  reads: 

Right  Honorable,  etc.  : 

I  received  your  letter  wherein  you  write  that  our  minds 
are  so  set  upon  faction,  and  idle  conceits  in  dividing  the 
country  without  your  consents,  and  that  we  feed  you 
but  with  ifs  and  ands,  hopes  and  some  few  proofes;  as  if 
we  would  keepe  the  mystery  of  the  businesseto  ourselves  : 
and  that  we  must  expressly  follow  your  instructions  sent 
by  Captain  Newport :  the  charge  of  whose  voyage  amounts 
to  neare  two  thousand  pounds,  the  which  if  we  cannot 
defray  by  the  ships  returne  we  are  likely  to  remain  as 
banished  men.  To  these  particulars  I  humbly  intreat 
your  pardons  if  I  offend  you  with  my  rude  answer. 

For  our  factions,  unless  you  would  have  me  run  away 
and  leave  the  country,  I  cannot  prevent  them ;  because  I 
do  make  many  stay  that  would  else  fly  away  whither.     For 


i6o8]   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.      151 

the  Idle  letter  sent  to  my  Lord  of  Salisbury,  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  confederates,  for  dividing  the  country,  &c., 
what  it  was  I  know  not,  for  you  saw  no  hand  of  mine  to 
it;  nor  ever  dream't  I  of  any  such  matter.  That  we  feed 
you  with  hopes,  &c.  Though  I  be  no  scholar,  I  am  past 
a  school-boy;  and  I  desire  but  to  know  what  either  you 
and  these  here  doe  know,  but  that  I  have  learned  to  tell 
you  by  the  continuall  hazard  of  my  life.  I  have  not  con- 
cealed from  you  anything  I  know ;  but  I  feare  some  cause 
you  to  believe  much  more  than  is  true. 

Expressly  to  follow  your  directions  by  Captain  New- 
port, though  they  be  performed,  I  was  directly  against  it; 
but  according  to  our  commission,  I  was  content  to  be 
overouled  by  the  major  part  of  the  Councill,  I  feare  to  the 
hazard  of  us  all ;  which  now  is  generally  confessed  when 
it  is  too  late.  Onely  Captaine  Winne  and  Captaine  Waldo 
I  have  sworne  of  the  Councill,  and  crowned  Powhattan 
according  to  your  instructions. 

For  the  charge  of  the  voyage  of  two  or  three  thousand 
pounds  we  have  not  received  the  value  of  one  hundred 
pounds,  and  for  the  quartered  boat  to  be  borne  by  the 
souldiers  over  the  falls.  Newport  had  120  of  the  best  men 
he  could  chuse.  If  he  had  burnt  her  to  ashes,  one  might 
have  carried  her  in  a  bag,  but  as  she  is,  five  hundred  can- 
not to  a  navigable  place  above  the  falls.  And  for  him  at 
that  time  to  find  in  the  South  Sea  a  mine  of  gold  ;  or  any  of 
them  sent  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh ;  at  our  consultation  I  told 
them  was  as  likely  as  the  rest.  But  during  this  great  dis- 
covery of  thirtie  miles  (which  might  as  well  have  been  done 
by  one  man,  and  much  more,  for  the  value  of  a  pound  of 
copper  at  a  seasonable  tyme),  they  had  the  pinnace  and 
all  the  boats  with  them  but  one  that  remained  with  me  to 
serve  the  fort.  In  their  absence  I  followed  the  new  begun 
works  of  Pitch  and  Tarre,  Glasse,  Sope-ashes,  Clapboord, 
whereof  some  small  quantities  we  have  sent  you.  But  if 
you  rightly  consider  what  an  infinite  toyle  it  is  in  Russia 
and  Swethland,  where  the  woods  are  proper  for  naught 
els,  and  though  there  be  the  helpe  both  of  man  and  beast 
in  those  ancient  commonwealths,  which  many  an  hundred 


152  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

years  have  used  it,  yet  thousands  of  those  poor  people  can 
scarce  get  necessaries  to  live,  but  from  hand  to  mouth, 
and  though  your  factors  there  can  buy  as  much  in  a  week 
as  will  fraught  you  a  ship,  or  as  much  as  you  please,  you 
must  not  expect  from  us  any  such  matter,  which  are  but 
as  many  of  ignorant,  miserable  soules,  that  are  scarce  able 
to  get  wherev/ith  to  live,  and  defend  ourselves  against  the 
inconstant  Salvages  :  finding  but  here  and  there  a  tree  fit 
for  the  purpose,  and  want  all  things  else  the  Russians 
have.  For  the  Coronation  of  Powhattan,  by  whose  advice 
you  sent  him  such  presents,  I  know  not ;  but  this  give  me 
leave  to  tell  you,  I  feare  they  will  be  the  confusion  of  us 
all  ere  we  heare  from  you  again.  At  your  ships  arrivall, 
the  Salvages  harvest  was  newly  gathered,  and  we  going  to 
buy  it,  our  owne  not  being  halve  sufficient  for  so  great  a 
number.  As  for  the  two  ships  loading  of  corne  Newport 
promised  to  provide  us  from  Powhattan,  he  brought  us  but 
fourteen  bushels;  and  from  the  Monacans  nothing,  but 
the  most  of  the  men  sicke  and  neare  famished.  From 
your  ship  we  had  not  provision  in  victuals  worth  twenty 
pound,  and  we  are  more  than  two  hundred  to  live  upon 
this  the  one  halfe  sicke,  the  other  little  better.  For  the 
i  saylers  (I  confesse),  they  daily  make  good  cheare,  but  our 
dyet  is  a  little  meale  and  water,  and  not  sufficient  of  that. 
Though  there  be  fish  in  the  Sea,  fowles  in  the  ayre,  and 
beasts  in  the  woods,  their  bounds  are  so  large,  they  so 
wilde,  and  we  so  weake  and  ignorant,  we  cannot  much 
trouble  them.  Captaine  Newport  we  much  suspect  to  be 
the  Author  of  these  inventions.  Now  that  you  should 
know,  I  have  made  you  as  great  a  discovery  as  he,  for 
lesse  charge  than  he  spendeth  you  every  meale ;  I  had  sent 
you  this  mappe  of  the  Countries  and  Nations  that  inhabit 
them,  as  you  may  see  at  large.  Also  two  barrels  of  stones, 
and  such  as  I  take  to  be  good.  Iron  ore  at  the  least ;  so 
divided,  as  by  their  notes  you  may  see  in  what  places  I 
found  them.  The  souldiers  say  many  of  your  officers 
maintaine  their  families  out  of  that  you  sent  us,  and  that 
Newport  hath  an  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  carrying 
newes.     For  every  master  you  have  yet  sent  can  find  the 


i6o8]   SMITH '  S  P  RE  SID  EN  C  Y  AND  PRO  WESS.      1 5  3 

way  as  well  as  he,  so  that  an  hundred  pounds  might  be 
spared,  which  is  more  than  we  have  all,  that  helps  to  pay 
him  wages.  Cap.  Ratliffe  is  now  called  Sicklemore,  a 
poore  counterfeited  Imposture.  I  have  sent  you  him 
home  least  the  Company  should  cut  his  throat.  What  he 
is,  now  every  one  can  tell  you  :  if  he  and  Archer  returne 
againe,  they  are  sufficient  to  keep  us  always  in  factions. 
When  you  send  againe  I  entreat  you  rather  send  but  thirty 
carpenters,  husbandmen,  gardiners,  fishermen,  blacksmiths, 
masons,  and  diggers  up  of  trees  roots,  well  provided,  then  a 
thousand  of  such  as  we  have ;  for  except  wee  be  able  both 
to  lodge  them,  and  feed  them,  the  most  will  consume  with 
want  of  necessaries  before  they  can  be  made  good  for  any- 
thing. Thus  if  you  please  to  consider  this  account,  and 
the  unnecessary  wages  to  Captaine  Newport,  or  his  ships 
so  long  lingering  and  staying  here  (for  notwithstanding 
his  boasting  to  leave  us  victuals  for  12  months,  though 
we  had  89  by  this  discovery  lame  and  sicke,  and  but  a 
pinte  of  corne  a  day  for  a  man,  we  were  constrained  to 
give  him  three  hogsheads  of  that  to  victuall  him  home- 
ward), or  yet  to  send  into  Germany  or  Poleland  for  glasse- 
men  and  the  rest,  till  we  be  able  to  sustaine  ourselves, 
and  releeve  them  when  they  come.  It  were  better  to  give 
five  hundred  pound  a  ton  for  those  grosse  Commodities  in 
Denmarke,  then  send  for  them  hither,  till  more  necessary 
things  be  provided.  For  in  over-toyling  our  weake  and 
unskilfull  bodies,  to  satisfy  this  desire  of  present  profit, 
we  can  scarce  ever  recover  ourselves  from  one  supply  to 
another.  And  I  humbly  intreat  you  hereafter,  let  us  have 
what  we  should  receive,  and  not  stand  to  the  Saylers 
courtesie  to  leave  us  what  they  please,  els  you  may  charge 
us  what  you  will,  but  we  not  you  with  anything.  These 
are  the  causes  that  have  kept  us  in  Virginia  from  laying 
such  a  foundation  that  ere  this  might  have  given  much 
better  content  and  satisfaction,  but  as  yet  you  must  not 
look  for  any  profitable  returning.     So  I  humbly  rest. 

After  the   departure    of  Newport,  Smith,  with  his 
accustomed  resolution,  set  to  work  to  gather  supplies 


154  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29-30 

for  the  winter.  Corn  had  to  be  extorted  from  the 
Indians  by  force.  In  one  expedition  to  Nansemond, 
when  the  Indians  refused  to  trade,  Smith  fired  upon 
them,  and  then  landed  and  burned  one  of  their  houses ; 
whereupon  they  submitted  and  loaded  his  three  boats 
with  corn.  The  ground  was  covered  with  ice  and 
snow,  and  the  nights  were  bitterly  cold.  The  device 
for  sleeping  warm  in  the  open  air  was  to  sweep  the 
snow  away  from  the  ground  and  build  a  fire;  the  fire 
was  then  raked  off  from  the  heated  earth  and  a  mat 
spread,  upon  which  the  whites  lay  warm,  sheltered  by 
a  mat  hung  up  on  the  windward  side,  until  the  ground 
got  cold,  when  they  builded  a  fire  on  another  place. 
Many  a  cold  winter  night  did  the  explorers  endure  this 
hardship,  yet  grew  fat  and  lusty  under  it. 

About  this  time  was  solemnized  the  marriage  of 
John  Laydon  and  Anne  Burrows,  the  first  in  Virginia. 
Anne  was  the  maid  of  Mistress  Forrest,  who  had  just 
come  out  to  grow  up  with  the  country,  and  John  was 
a  laborer  who  came  with  the  first  colony  in  160;. 
This  was  actually  the  "  First  Family  of  Virginia," 
about  which  so  much  has  been  eloquently  said. 

Provisions  were  still  wanting.  Mr.  Scrivener  and 
Mr.  Percy  returned  from  an  expedition  with  nothing. 
Smith  proposed  to  surprise  Powhatan,  and  seize  his 
store  of  corn,  but  he  says  he  was  hindered  in  this  pro- 
ject by  Capt.  Winne  and  Mr.  Scrivener  (who  had 
heretofore  been  considered  one  of  Smith's  friends), 
whom  he  now  suspected  of  plotting  his  ruin  in  Eng- 
land. 

Powhatan  on  his  part  sent  word  to  Smith  to  visit 
him,  to  send  him  men  to  build  a  house,  give  him  a 
grindstone,  fifty  swords,  some  big  guns,  a  cock  and  a 
hen,  much  copper  and  beads,  in  return  for  which  he 
would  load  his  ship  with  corn.     Without  any  confi- 


i6o8-9]  SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.  155 

dence  in  the  crafty  savage,  Smith  humored  him  by- 
sending  several  workmen,  including  four  Dutchmen, 
to  build  him  a  house.  Meantime  with  two  barges 
and  the  pinnace  and  forty-six  men,  including  Lieut. 
Percy,  Capt.  Wirt,  and  Capt.  William  Phittiplace,  on 
the  29th  of  December  he  set  out  on  a  journey  to  the 
Pamaunky,  or  York,  River. 

The  first  night  was  spent  at  "  Warraskogack,"  the 
king  of  which  warned  Smith  that  while  Powhatan 
would  receive  him  kindly  he  was  only  seeking  an  op- 
portunity to  cut  their  throats  and  seize  their  arms. 
Christmas  was  kept  with  extreme  winds,  rain,  frost  and 
snow  among  the  savages  at  Kecoughton,  where  before 
roaring  fires  they  made  merry  with  plenty  of  oysters, 
fish,  flesh,  wild  fowls  and  good  bread.  The  Presi- 
dent and  two  others  went  gunning  for  birds,  and  brought 
down  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  fowls  with  three 
shots. 

Ascending  the  river,  on  the  T2th  of  January  they 
reached  Werowocomoco.  The  river  was  frozen  half 
a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  when  the  barge  could  not 
come  to  land  by  reason  of  the  ice  and  muddy  shal- 
lows, they  effected  a  landing  by  wading.  Powhatan 
at  their  request  sent  them  venison,  turkeys  and  bread  ; 
the  next  day  he  feasted  them,  and  then  inquired  when 
they  were  going,  ignoring  his  invitation  to  them  to 
come.  Hereupon  followed  a  long  game  of  fence  be- 
tween Powhatan  and  Capt.  Smith,  each  trying  to 
overreach  the  other,  and  each  indulging  profusely  in 
lies  and  pledges.  Each  professed  the  utmost  love  for 
the  other. 

Smith  upbraided  him  with  neglect  of  his  promise  to 
supply  them  with  corn,  and  told  him,  in  reply  to  his 
demand  for  weapons,  that  he  had  no  arms  to  spare. 
Powhatan  asked  him,  if  he  came  on  a  peaceful  errarid, 


156  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  29 

to  lay  aside  his  weapons,  for  he  had  heard  that  the 
English  came  not  so  much  for  trade  as  to  invade  his 
people  and  possess  his  country,  and  the  people  did  not 
dare  to  bring  in  their  corn  while  the  English  were 
around. 

Powhatan  seemed  indifferent  about  the  building. 
The  Dutchmen  who  had  come  to  build  Powhatan  a 
house  liked  the  Indian  plenty  better  than  the  risk  of 
starvation  with  the  colony,  revealed  to  Powhatan  the 
poverty  of  the  whites,  and  plotted  to  betray  them,  of 
which  plot  Smith  was  not  certain  till  six  months 
later.  Powhatan  discoursed  eloquently  on  the  advan- 
tage of  peace  over  war :  "  I  have  seen  the  death  of 
all  my  people  thrice,"  he  said,  "and  not  any  one 
living  of  those  three  generations  but  myself;  I  know 
the  difference  of  peace  and  war  better  than  any  in  my 
country.  But  I  am  now  old  and  ere  long  must  die." 
He  wanted  to  leave  his  brothers  and  sisters  in  peace. 
He  heard  that  Smith  came  to  destroy  his  country. 
He  asked  him  what  good  it  would  do  to  destroy  them 
that  provided  his  food,  to  drive  them  into  the  woods 
where  they  must  feed  on  roots  and  acorns  ;  "  and  be 
so  hunted  by  you  that  I  can  neither  rest,  eat  nor 
sleep,  but  my  tired  men  must  watch,  and  if  a  twig  but 
break  every  one  crieth,  there  cometh  Captain  Smith  !" 
They  might  live  in  peace,  and  trade,  if  Smith  would 
only  lay  aside  his  arms.  Smith,  in  return,  boasted  of  his 
power  to  get  provisions,  and  said  that  he  had  only 
been  restrained  from  violence  by  his  love  for  Powhatan  ; 
that  the  Indians  came  armed  to  Jamestown,  and  it 
was  the  habit  of  the  whites  to  wear  their  arms.  Pow- 
hatan then  contrasted  the  liberality  of  Newport,  and 
told  Smith  that  while  he  had  used  him  more  kindly 
than  any  other  chief,  he  had  received  from  him  (Smith) 
the  least  kindness  of  any. 


1609]   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.     1 5/ 

Believing  that  the  palaver  was  only  to  get  an  oppor- 
tunity to  cut  his  throat,  Smith  got  the  savages  to  break 
the  ice  in  order  to  bring  up  the  barge  and  load  it  with 
corn,  and  gave  orders  for  his  soldiers  to  land  and  sur- 
prise Powhatan ;  meantime,  to  allay  his  suspicions, 
telling  him  the  lie  that  next  day  he  would  lay  aside 
his  arms  and  trust  Powhatan's  promises.  But  Pow- 
hatan was  not  to  be  caught  with  such  chaff.  Leaving 
two  or  three  women  to  talk  with  the  Captain,  he 
secretly  fled  away  with  his  women,  children,  and  lug- 
gage. When  Smith  perceived  this  treachery  he  fired 
into  the  "naked  (Jevils  "  who  were  in  sight.  The  next 
day  Powhatan  sent  to  excuse  his  flight,  and  presented 
him  a  bracelet  and  chain  of  pearl  and  vowed  eternal 
friendship. 

With  matchlocks  lighted,  Smith  forced  the  Indians 
to  load  the  boats  ;  but  as  they  were  aground,  and 
could  not  be  got  off  till  high  water,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  spend  the  night  on  shore.  Powhatan  and 
the  treacherous  Dutchmen  are  represented  as  plot- 
ting to  kill  Smith  that  night.  Provisions  were  to 
be  brought  him  with  professions  of  friendship,  and 
Smith  was  to  be  attacked  while  at  supper.  The  In- 
dians, with  all  the  merry  sports  they  could  devise, 
spent  the  time  till  night,  and  then  returned  to  Pow- 
hatan. 

The  plot  was  frustrated  in  the  providence  of  God 
by  a  strange  means.  "  For  Pocahuntas  his  dearest 
jewele  and  daughter  in  that  dark  night  came 
through  the  irksome  woods,  and  told  our  Captaine 
good  cheer  should  be  sent  us  by  and  by ;  but  Pow- 
hatan and  all  the  power  he  could  make  would  after 
come  and  kill  us  all,  if  they  that  brought  it  could 
not  kill  us  with  our  own  weapons  when  we  were  at 
supper.     Therefore  if  we  would  live  she  wished  us 


158  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

presently  to  be  gone.  Such  things  as  she  delighted 
in  he  would  have  given  her  ;  but  with  the  tears  roll- 
ing down  her  cheeks  she  said  she  durst  not  to  be 
seen  to  have  any  ;  for  if  Powhatan  should  know  it, 
she  were  but  dead,  and  so  she  ran  away  by  herself 
as  she  came."  ^ 

In  less  than  an  hour  ten  burly  fellows  arrived 
with  great  platters  of  victuals,  and  begged  Smith 
to  put  out  the  matches  (the  smoke  of  which  made 
them  sick)  and  sit  down  and  eat.  Smith,  on  his 
guard,  compelled  them  to  taste  each  dish,  and  then 
sent  them  back  to  Powhatan.  All  night  the  whites 
watched,  but  though  the  savages  lurked  about,  no 
attack  was  made.  Leaving  the  four  Dutchmen  to 
build  Powhatan's  house,  and  an  Englishman  to 
shoot  game  for  him,  Smith  next  evening  departed 
for  Pamaunky. 

No  sooner  had  he  gone  than  two  of  the  Dutch- 
men made  their  way  overland  to  Jamestown,  and, 
pretending  Smith  had  sent  them,  procured  arms, 
tools,  and  clothing.  They  induced  also  half  a  dozen 
sailors,  "  expert  thieves,"  to  accompany  them  to  live 
with  Powhatan  ;  and  altogether  they  stole,  besides 
powder  and  shot,  fifty  swords,  eight  pieces,  eight 
pistols,  and  three  hundred  hatchets.  Edward  Boyn- 
ton  and  Richard  Savage,  who  had  been  left  with 

*  This  instance  of  female  devotion  is  exactly  paralleled  in 
D'Albertis'  "New  Guinea."  Abia,  a  pretty  Biota  girl  of  sev- 
enteen, made  her  way  to  his  solitary  habitation  at  the  peril  of 
her  life,  to  inform  him  that  the  men  of  Rapa  would  shortly  bring 
him  insects  and  other  presents,  in  order  to  get  near  him  with- 
out suspicion,  and  then  kill  him.  He  tried  to  reward  the  brave 
girl  by  hanging  a  gold  chain  about  her  neck,  but  she  refused  it, 
saying  it  would  betray  her.  He  could  only  reward  her  with  a 
fervent  kiss,  upon  which  she  fled.  Smith  omits  that  part  of  the 
incident. 


1609]   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  PROWESS.     I  59 

Powhatan,  seeing  the  treachery,  endeavored  to  es- 
cape, but  were  apprehended  by  the  Indians. 

At  Pamaunky  there  was  the  same  sort  of  palaver 
with  Opechancanough,  the  king,  to  whom  Smith 
the  year  before  had  expounded  tlie  mysteries  of  his- 
tory, geography,  and  astronomy.  After  much  fenc- 
ing in  talk.  Smith,  with  fifteen  companions,  went  up 
to  the  King's  house,  where  presently  he  found  him- 
self betrayed  and  surrounded  by  seven  hundred 
armed  savages,  seeking  his  life.  His  company 
being  dismayed.  Smith  restored  their  courage  by  a 
speech,  and  then,  boldly  charging  the  King  with  in- 
tent to  murder  him,  he  challenged  him  to  a  single 
combat  on  an  island  in  the  river,  each  to  use  his 
own  arms,  but  Smith  to  be  as  naked  as  the  King. 
The  King  still  professed  friendship,  and  laid  a  great 
present  at  the  door,  about  which  the  Indians  lay  in 
ambush  to  kill  Smith.  But  this  hero,  according  to  his 
own  account,  took  prompt  measures.  He  marched 
out  to  the  King  where  he  stood  guarded  by  fifty  of 
his  chiefs,  seized  him  by  his  long  hair  in  the  midst 
of  his  men,  and  pointing  a  pistol  at  his  breast  led 
him  tremblingr  and  near  dead  with  fear  amono^st  all 
his  people.  The  King  gave  up  his  arms,  and  the 
savages,  astonished  that  any  man  dare  treat  their 
king  thuSp  threw  down  their  bows.  Smith,  still 
holding  the  King  by  the  hair,  made  them  a  bold  ad- 
dress, offering  peace  or  war.     They  chose  peace. 

In  the  picture  of  this  remarkable  scene  in  the 
"General  Historie,"  the  savage  is  represented  as 
gigantic  in  stature,  big  enough  to  crush  the  little 
Smith  in  an  instant  if  he  had  but  chosen.  Having 
given  the  savages  the  choice  to  load  his  ship  with 
corn  or  to  load  it  himself  with  their  dead  carcasses, 
the  Indians  so  thronged  in  with  their  commodities 


l6o  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

that  Smith  was  tired  of  receiving  them,  and  leaving 
his  comrades  to  trade,  he  lay  down  to  rest.  When 
he  was  asleep  the  Indians,  armed  some  with  clubs, 
and  some  with  old  English  swords,  entered  into  the 
house.  Smith  awoke  in  time,  seized  his  arms,  and 
others  coming  to  his  rescue,  they  cleared  the  house. 

While  enduring  these  perils,  sad  news  was 
brought  from  Jamestown.  Mr.  Scrivener,  who  had 
letters  from  England  (writes  Smith)  urging  him  to 
make  himself  Caesar  or  nothing,  declined  in  his 
affection  for  Smith,  and  began  to  exercise  extra 
authority.  Against  the  advice  of  the  others,  he  needs 
must  make  a  journey  to  the  Isle  of  Hogs,  taking 
with  him  in  the  boat  Capt.  Waldo,  Anthony  Gos- 
noll  (or  Gosnold,  believed  to  be  a  relative  of  Capt. 
Bartholomew  Gosnold),  and  eight  others.  The  boat 
was  overwhelmed  in  a  storm,  and  sunk,  no  one 
knows  how  or  where.  The  savages  were  the  first 
to  discover  the  bodies  of  the  lost.  News  of  this 
disaster  was  brought  to  Capt.  Smith  (who  did  not 
disturb  the  rest  by  making  it  known)  by  Richard 
Wiffin,  who  encountered  great  dangers  on  the  way. 
Lodging  overnight  at  Powhatan's,  he  saw  great 
preparations  for  war,  and  found  himself  in  peril. 
Pocahontas  hid  him  for  a  time,  and  by  her  means, 
and  extraordinary  bribes,  in  three  days'  travel  he 
reached  Smith. 

Powhatan,  according  to  Smith,  threatened  death 
to  his  followers  if  they  did  not  kill  Smith.  At  one 
time  swarms  of  natives,  unarmed,  came  bringing 
great  supplies  of  provisions  ;  this  was  to  put  Smith 
off  his  guard,  surround  him  with  hundreds  of 
savages,  and  slay  him  by  an  ambush.  But  he  also 
laid  an  ambush  and  got  the  better  of  the  crafty  foe 
with   a  superior    craft.     They   sent   him    poisoned 


1609]   SMITH'S  PRESIDENCY  AND  TROWESS.      161 

food,  which  made  his  company  sick,  but  was  fatal 
to  no  one.  Smith  apologizes  for  temporizing  with 
the  Indians  at  this  time,  by  explaining  that  his  pur- 
pose was  to  surprise  Powhatan  and  his  store  of  pro- 
visions. But  when  they  stealthily  stole  up  to  the 
seat  of  that  crafty  chief,  they  found  that  those 
"damned  Dutchmen"  had  caused  Powhatan  to 
abandon  his  new  house  at  Werowocomoco,  and  to 
carry  away  all  his  corn  and  provisions. 

The  reward  of  this  wearisome  winter  campaign 
was  two  hundred  weight  of  deer-suet  and  four 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  bushels  of  corn  for  the 
general  store.  They  had  not  to  show  such  murder- 
ing and  destroying  as  the  Spaniards  in  their  "  rela- 
tions," nor  heaps  and  mines  of  gold  and  silver  ;  the 
land  of  Virginia  was  barbarous  and  ill-planted,  and 
without  precious  jewels,  but  no  Spanish  relation 
could  show,  with  such  scant  means,  so  much  coun- 
try explored,  so  many  natives  reduced  to  obedience, 
with  so  little  bloodshed. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

TRIALS   OF    THE    SETTLEMENT. 

WITHOUT  entering  at  all  into  the  consideration 
of  the  character  of  the  early  settlers  of  Virginia 
and  of  Massachusetts,  one  contrast  forces  itself  upon 
the  mind  as  we  read  the  narratives  of  the  different 
plantations.  In  Massachusetts  there  was  from  the 
beginning  a  steady  purpose  to  make  a  permanent 
settlement  and  colony,  and  nearly  all  those  who 
came  over  worked,  with  more  or  less  friction,  with 
this  end  before  them.  The  attempt  in  Virginia 
partook  more  of  the  character  of  a  temporary  ad- 
venture. In  Massachusetts  from  the  beginning  a 
commonwealth  was  in  view.  In  Virginia,  although 
the  London  promoters  desired  a  colony  to  be  fixed 
that  would  be  profitable  to  themselves,  and  many 
of  the  adventurers.  Captain  Smith  among  them, 
desired  a  permanent  planting,  a  great  majority  of 
those  who  went  thither  had  only  in  mind  the  ad- 
vantages of  trade,  the  excitement  of  a  free  and 
licentious  life,  and  the  adventure  of  something  new 
and  startling.  It  was  long  before  the  movers  in  it 
gave  up  the  notion  of  discovering  precious  metals 
or  a  short  way  to  the  South  Sea.  The  troubles  the 
primitive  colony  endured  resulted  quite  as  much 
from  its  own  instability  of  purpose,  recklessness  and 
insubordination,  as  from  the  hostility  of  the  Indians. 
The  majority  spent  their  time  in  idleness,  quarrel- 
ing, and  plotting  mutiny. 


i6o9]  TRIALS  OF   THE   SETTLEMENT.  1 63 

The  ships  departed  for  England  in  December, 
1608.  Wlien  Smith  returned  from  his  expedition 
for  food  in  the  winter  of  1609,  he  found  that  all  the 
provisions  except  what  he  had  gathered  was  so 
rotted  from  the  rain,  and  eaten  by  rats  and  worms, 
that  the  hogs  would  scarcely  eat  it.  Yet  this  had 
been  the  diet  of  the  soldiers,  who  had  consumed 
the  victuals  and  accomplished  nothing  except  to  let 
the  savages  have  the  most  of  the  tools  and  a  good 
part  of  the  arms. 

Taking  stock  of  what  he  brought  in,  Smith  found 
food  enough  to  last  till  the  next  harvest,  and  at 
once  organized  the  company  into  bands  of  ten  or 
fifteen,  and  compelled  them  to  go  to  work.  Six 
hours  a  day  were  devoted  to  labor,  and  the  re- 
mainder to  rest  and  merry  exercises.  Even  with 
this  liberal  allowance  of  pastime  a  great  part  of  the 
colony  still  sulked.  Smith  made  them  a  short  ad- 
dress, exhibiting  his  power  in  the  letters-patent, 
and  assuring  them  that  he  would  enforce  discipline 
and  punish  the  idle  and  froward;  telling  them  that 
those  that  did  not  work  should  not  eat,  and  that  the 
labor  of  forty  or  fifty  industrious  men  should  not 
be  consumed  to  maintain  a  hundred  and  fifty  idle 
loiterers.  He  made  a  public  table  of  good  and  bad 
conduct;  but  even  with  this  inducement  the  worst 
had  to  be  driven  to  work  by  punishment  or  the  fear 
of  it. 

The  Dutchmen  with  Powhatan  continued  to  make 
trouble,  and  confederates  in  the  camp  supplied  them 
with  powder  and  shot,  swords  and  tools.  Pow- 
hatan kept  the  whites  who  were  with  him  to  in- 
struct the  Indians  in  the  art  of  war.  They  expected 
other  whites  to  join  them,  and  those  not  coming, 
they  sent  Francis,  their  companion,  disguised  as  an 


1 64  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [^t.  30 

Indian,  to  find  out  the  cause.  He  came  to  the  Glass 
house  in  the  woods  a  mile  from  Jamestown,  which 
was  the  rendezvous  for  all  their  villainy.  Here 
they  laid  an  ambush  of  forty  men  for  Smith,  who 
hearing  of  the  Dutchman,  went  thither  to  apprehend 
him.  The  rascal  had  gone,  and  Smith,  sending 
twenty  soldiers  to  follow  and  capture  him,  started 
alone  from  the  Glass  house  to  return  to  the  fort. 
And  now  occurred  another  of  those  personal  adven- 
tures which  made  Smith  famous  by  his  own  narra- 
tion. 

On  his  way  he  encountered  the  King  of  Paspa- 
hegh,  "a  most  strong,  stout  savage,"  who  seeing 
that  Smith  had  only  his  falchion,  attem.pted  to  shoot 
him.  Smith  grappled  him;  the  savage  prevented  his 
drawing  his  blade,  and  bore  him  into  the  river  to 
drown  him.  Long  they  struggled  in  the  water, 
when  the  President  got  the  savage  by  the  throat 
and  nearly  strangled  him,  and  drawing  his  weapon, 
was  about  to  cut  off  his  head,  when  the  King  begged 
his  life  so  pitifully,  that  Smith  led  him  prisoner  to 
the  fort  and  put  him  in  chains. 

In  the  pictures  of  this  achievement,  the  savage  is 
represented  as  about  twice  the  size  and  stature  of 
Smith;  another  illustration  that  this  heroic  soul 
was  never  contented  to  take  one  of  his  size. 

The  Dutchman  was  captured,  who,  notwithstand- 
ing his  excuses  that  he  had  escaped  from  Powhatan 
and  did  not  intend  to  return,  but  was  only  walking 
in  the  woods  to  gather  walnuts,  on  the  testimony 
of  Paspahegh  of  his  treachery,  was  also  "  laid  by  the 
heels."  Smith  now  proposed  to  Paspahegh  to  spare 
his  life  if  he  would  induce  Powhatan  to  send  back 
the  renegade  Dutchmen.  The  messengers  for  this 
purpose  reported  that  the  Dutchmen,  though  not 


1609]  TRIALS  OF   THE   SETTLEMENT.  1 65 

detained  by  Powhatan,  would  not  come,  and  the 
Indians  said  they  could  not  bring  them  on  their 
backs  fifty  miles  through  the  woods.  Daily  the 
King's  wives,  children,  and  people  came  to  visit 
him,  and  brought  presents  to  procure  peace  and  his 
release.  While  this  was  going  on,  the  King,  though 
fettered,  escaped.  A  pursuit  only  resulted  in  a  vain 
fight  with  the  Indians.  Smith  then  made  prisoners 
of  two  Indians  who  seemed  to  be  hanging  around 
the  camp,  Kemps  and  Tussore,  "  the  two  most  exact 
villains  in  all  the  country,"  who  would  betray  their 
own  king  and  kindred  for  a  piece  of  copper,  and 
sent  them  with  a  force  of  soldiers,  under  Percy, 
against  Paspahegh.  The  expedition  burned  his 
house,  but  did  not  capture  the  fugitive.  Smith 
then  went  against  them  himself,  killed  six  or  seven, 
burned  their  houses,  and  took  their  boats  and  fish- 
ing wires.  Thereupon  the  savages  sued  for  peace, 
and  an  amnesty  was  established  that  lasted  as  long 
as  Smith  remained  in  the  country. 

Another  incident  occurred  about  this  time  which 
greatly  raised  Smith's  credit  in  all  that  country. 
The  Chicahomanians,  who  always  were  friendly 
traders,  were  great  thieves.  One  of  them  stole  a 
pistol,  and  two  proper  young  fellows,  brothers, 
known  to  be  his  confederates,  were  apprehended. 
One  of  them  was  put  in  the  dungeon  and  the  other 
sent  to  recover  the  pistol  within  twelve  hours,  in 
default  of  which  his  brother  would  be  hanged.  The 
President,  pitying  the  wretched  savage  in  the  dun- 
geon, sent  him  some  victuals  and  charcoal  for  a 
fire.  "  Ere  midnight  his  brother  returned  with  the 
pistol,  but  the  poor  savage  in  the  dungeon  was  so 
smothered  with  the  smoke  he  had  made,  and  so 
piteously    burnt,    that    we    found    him  dead.     The 


1 66  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  \&\.  30 

Other  most  lamentably  bewailed  his  death,  and 
broke  forth  in  such  bitter  agonies,  that  the  Presi- 
dent, to  quiet  him,  told  him  that  if  hereafter  they 
would  not  steal,  he  would  make  him  alive  again; 
but  he  (Smith)  little  thought  he  could  be  recovered," 
Nevertheless,  by  a  liberal  use  of  aqua  vitce  and  vine- 
gar the  Indian  was  brought  again  to  life,  but  "  so 
drunk  and  affrighted  that  he  seemed  lunatic,  the 
which  as  much  tormented  and  grieved  the  other  as 
before  to  see  him  dead."  Upon  further  promise  of 
good  behavior  Smith  promised  to  bring  the  Indian 
out  of  this  malady  also,  and  so  laid  him  by  a  fire  to 
sleep.  In  the  morning  the  savage  had  recovered 
his  perfect  senses,  his  wounds  were  dressed,  and  the 
brothers  with  presents  of  copper  were  sent  away 
well  contented.  This  was  spread  among  the  sav- 
ages for  a  miracle,  that  Smith  could  make  a  man 
alive  that  was  dead.  He  narrates  a  second  incident 
which  served  to  give  the  Indians  a  wholesome  fear 
of  the  whites:  "  Another  ingenious  savage  of  Pow- 
hatan having  gotten  a  great  bag  of  powder  and  the 
back  of  an  armour  at  Werowocomoco,  amongst  a 
many  of  his  companions,  to  show  his  extraordinary 
skill,  he  did  dry  it  on  the  back  as  he  had  seen  the 
soldiers  at  Jamestown.  But  he  dried  it  so  long, 
they  peeping  over  it  to  see  his  skill,  it  took  fire,  and 
blew  him  to  death,  and  one  or  two  more,  and  the 
rest  so  scorched  they  had  little  pleasure  any  more 
to  meddle  with  gunpowder." 

"  These  and  many  other  such  pretty  incidents," 
says  Smith,  "so  amazed  and  affrighted  Powhatan 
and  his  people  that  from  all  parts  they  desired 
peace;"  stolen  articles  were  returned,  thieves  sent 
to  Jamestown  for  punishment,  and  the  whole  coun- 
try became  as  free  for  the  whites  as  for  the  Indians." 


1609]  TRIALS  OF   THE   SETTLEMENT  1 67 

And  now  ensued,  in  the  spring  of  1609,  a  pros- 
perous period  of  three  months,  the  longest  season 
of  quiet  the  colony  had  enjoyed,  but  only  a  respite 
from  greater  disasters.  The  friendship  of  the  In- 
dians and  the  temporary  subordination  of  the  set- 
tlers we  must  attribute  to  Smith's  vigor,  shrewd- 
ness, and  spirit  of  industry.  It  was  much  easier  to 
manage  the  Indians  than  the  idle  and  vicious  men 
that  composed  the  majority  of  the  settlement. 

In  these  three  months  they  manufactured  three 
or  four  lasts  (fourteen  barrels  in  a  last)  of  tar, 
pitch,  and  soap-ashes,  produced  some  specimens  of 
glass,  dug  a  well  of  excellent  sweet  water  in  the 
fort,  which  they  had  wanted  for  two  years,  built 
twenty  houses,  repaired  the  church,  planted  thirty 
or  forty  acres  of  ground,  and  erected  a  block-house 
on  the  neck  of  the  island,  where  a  garrison  was 
stationed  to  trade  with  the  savages  and  permit  nei- 
ther whites  nor  Indians  to  pass  except  on  the  Presi- 
dent's order.  Even  the  domestic  animals  partook 
the  industrious  spirit:  "of  three  sowes  in  eighteen 
months  increased  60,  and  od  Pigs;  and  neare  500 
chickings  brought  up  themselves  without  having 
any  meat  given  them."  The  hogs  were  transferred 
to  Hog  Isle,  where  another  block-house  was  built 
and  garrisoned,  and  the  garrison  were  permitted  to 
take  "exercise"  in  cutting  down  trees  and  making 
clapboards  and  wainscot.  They  were  building  a 
fort  on  high  ground,  intended  for  an  easily  defend- 
ed retreat,  when  a  woful  discovery  put  an  end  to 
their  thriving  plans. 

Upon  examination  of  the  corn  stored  in  casks,  it 
was  found  half-rotten,  and  the  rest  consumed  by 
rats,  which  had  bred  in  thousands  from  the  few 
which  came  over  in  the  ships.    The  colony  was  now 


1 68  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  30 

at  its  wits  end,  for  there  was  nothing  to  eat  except 
the  wild  products  of  the  country.  In  this  prospect 
of  famine,  the  two  Indians,  Kemps  and  Tussore, 
who  had  been  kept  fettered  while  showing  the 
whites  how  to  plant  the  fields,  were  turned  loose  ; 
but  they  were  unwilling  to  depart  from  such  con- 
genial company.  The  savages  in  the  neighborhood 
showed  their  love  by  bringing  to  camp,  for  sixteen 
days,  each  day  at  least  a  hundred  squirrels,  tur- 
keys, deer,  and  other  wild  beasts.  But  without 
corn,  the  work  of  fortifying  and  building  had  to  be 
abandoned,  and  the  settlers  dispersed  to  provide 
victuals.  A  party  of  sixty  or  eighty  men  under 
Ensign  Laxon  were  sent  down  the  river  to  live  on 
oysters  ;  some  twenty  went  with  Lieut.  Percy  to  try 
fishing  at  Point  Comfort,  where  for  six  weeks  not  a 
net  was  cast,  owing  to  the  sickness  of  Percy,  who 
had  been  burnt  with  gunpowder ;  and  another 
party,  going  to  the  Falls  with  Master  West,  found 
nothing  to  eat  but  a  few  acorns. 

Up  to  this  time  the  whole  colony  was  fed  by  the 
labors  of  thirty  or  forty  men:  there  was  more  stur- 
geon than  could  be  devoured  by  dog  and  man  ;  it 
was  dried,  pounded,  and  mixed  with  caviare,  sorrel 
and  other  herbs,  to  make  bread  ;  bread  was  also 
made  of  the  "  Tockwhogh"  root,  and  with  the  fish 
and  these  wild  fruits  they  lived  very  well.  But 
there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  colony  who 
would  rather  starve  or  eat  each  other  than  help 
gather  food.  These  "distracted,  gluttonous  loiter- 
ers" would  have  sold  anything  they  had — tools, 
arms,  and  their  houses — for  anything  the  savages 
would  bring  them  to  eat.  Hearing  that  there  was 
a  basket  of  corn  at  Powhatan's,  fifty  miles  away, 
they  would  have  exchanged  all  their  property  for 


1609]  TRIALS  OF   THE   SETTLEMENT.  1 69 

it.  To  satisfy  their  factious  humors,  Smith  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  half  of  it:  "they  would  have  sold 
their  souls,"  he  says,  for  the  other  half,  though  not 
sufficient  to  last  them  a  week. 

The  clamors  became  so  loud  that  Smith  punished 
the  ringleader,  one  Dyer,  a  crafty  fellow,  and  his 
ancient  maligner,  and  then  made  one  of  his  concili- 
atory addresses.  Having  shown  them  how  impos- 
sible it  was  to  get  corn,  and  reminded  them  of  his 
own  exertions,  and  that  he  had  always  shared  with 
them  anything  he  had,  he  told  them  that  he  should 
stand  their  nonsense  no  longer;  he  should  force  the 
idle  to  work,  and  punish  them  if  they  railed;  if  any 
attempted  to  escape  to  Newfoundland  in  the  pin- 
nace they  would  arrive  at  the  gallows;  the  sick 
should  not  starve;  every  man  able  must  work,  and 
every  man  who  did  not  gather  as  much  in  a  day  as 
he  did  should  be  put  out  of  the  fort  as  a  drone. 

Such  was  the  effect  of  this  speech  that  of  the  two 
hundred  only  seven  died  in  this  pinching  time,  ex- 
cept those  who  were  drowned;  no  man  died  of 
want.  Capt.  Winne  and  Master  Leigh  had  died 
before  this  famine  occurred.  Many  of  the  men 
were  billeted  among  the  savages,  who  used  them 
well,  and  stood  in  such  awe  of  the  power  at  the  fort 
that  they  dared  not  wrong  the  whites  out  of  a  pin. 
The  Indians  caught  Smith's  humor,  and  some  of 
the  men  who  ran  away  to  seek  Kemps  and  Tussore 
were  mocked  and  ridiculed,  and  had  applied  to 
them  Smith's  law  of  ''who  cannot  work  must  not 
eat;"  they  were  almost  starved  and  beaten  nearly  to 
death.  After  amusing  himself  with  them,  Kemps 
returned  the  fugitives,  whom  Smith  punished  until 
they  were  content  to  labor  at  home,  rather  than  ad- 
venture to  live  idly  among  the  savages,  "of  whoni," 


170  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

says  our  shrewd  chronicler,  "there  was  more  hope 
to  make  better  christians  and  good  subjects  than 
the  one  half  of  them  that  counterfeited  themselves 
both."  The  Indians  were  in  such  subjection  that 
any  who  were  punished  at  the  fort  would  beg  the 
President  not  to  tell  their  chief,  for  they  would  be 
again  punished  at  home  and  sent  back  for  another 
round. 

We  hear  now  of  the  last  efforts  to  find  traces  of 
the  lost  colony  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Master 
Sicklemore  returned  from  the  Chawwonoke  (Chow- 
an River)  with  no  tidings  of  them;  and  Master 
Powell,  and  Anas  Todkill  who  had  been  conducted 
to  the  Mangoags,  in  the  regions  south  of  the  James, 
could  learn  nothing  but  that  they  were  all  dead. 
The  king  of  this  country  was  a  very  proper,  devout 
and  friendly  man;  he  acknowledged  that  our  God 
exceeded  his  as  much  as  our  guns  did  his  bows  and 
arrows,  and  asked  the  President  to  pray  his  God  for 
him,  for  all  the  gods  of  the  Mangoags  were  angry. 

The  Dutchmen  and  one  Bentiey,  another  fugitive, 
who  were  with  Powhatan,  continued  to  plot  against 
the  colony,  and  the  President  employed  a  Swiss, 
named  William  Volday,  to  go  and  regain  them  with 
promises  of  pardon.  Volday  turned  out  to  be  a 
hypocrite,  and  a  greater  rascal  than  the  others. 
Many  of  the  discontented  in  the  fort  were  brought 
into  the  scheme,  which  was,  with  Powhatan's  aid, 
to  surprise  and  destroy  Jamestown.  News  of  this 
getting  about  in  the  fort,  there  was  a  demand 
that  the  President  should  cut  off  these  Dutchmen. 
Percy  and  Cuderington,  two  gentlemen,  volun- 
teered to  do  it;  but  Smith  sent  instead  Master  Wif- 
fin  and  Jeffrey  Abbot,  to  go  and  stab  them  or  shoot 
them.     But  the  Dutchmen  were  too  shrewd  to  be 


i609]  TRIALS  OF   THE   SETTLEMENT  1 71 

caught,  and  Powhatan  sent  a  conciliatory  message 
that  he  did  not  detain  the  Dutchmen,  nor  hinder 
the  slaying  of  them. 

While  this  plot  was  simmering,  and  Smith  was 
surrounded  by  treachery  inside  the  fort  and  out- 
side, and  the  savages  were  being  taught  that  King 
James  would  kill  Smith  because  he  had  used  the 
Indians  so  unkindly,  Capt.  Argall  and  Master 
Thomas  Sedan  arrived  out  in  a  well-furnished  ves- 
sel, sent  by  Master  Cornelius  to  trade  and  fish  for 
sturgeon.  The  wine  and  other  good  provision  of 
the  ship  were  so  opportune  to  the  necessities  of  the 
colony  that  the  President  seized  them.  Argall  lost 
his  voyage;  his  ship  was  revictualed  and  sent  back 
to  England,  but  one  may  be  sure  that  this  event  was 
so  represented  as  to  increase  the  fostered  dissatis- 
faction with  Smith  in  London.  For  one  reason  or 
another,  most  of  the  persons  who  returned  had 
probably  carried  a  bad  report  of  him.  Argall 
brought  to  Jamestown  from  London  a  report  of 
great  complaints  of  him  for  his  dealings  with  the 
savages  and  not  returning  ships  freighted  with  the 
products  of  the  country.  Misrepresented  in  Lon- 
don, and  unsupported  and  conspired  against  in 
Virginia,  Smith  felt  his  fall  near  at  hand.  On  the 
face  of  it  he  was  the  victim  of  envy  and  the  rascal- 
ity of  incompetent  and  bad  men;  but  whatever  his 
capacity  for  dealing  with  savages,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  he  lacked  something  which  conciliates 
success  with  one's  own  people.  A  new  commission 
was  about  to  be  issued,  and  a  great  supply  was  in 
preparation  under  Lord   De  La  Ware. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

smith's    last    days    in    VIRGINIA. 

THE  London  company  were  profoundly  dissatis- 
fied with  the  results  of  the  Virginia  colony. 
The  South  Sea  was  not  discovered,  no  gold  had 
turned  up,  there  were  no  valuable  products  from 
the  new  land,  and  the  promoters  received  no  profits 
on  their  ventures.  With  their  expectations,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  they  were  still  further  an- 
noyed by  the  quarreling  amongst  the  colonists 
themselves,  and  wished  to  begin  over  again. 

A  new  charter,  dated  May  23,  1609,  with  enlarged 
powers,  was  got  from  King  James.  Hundreds  of 
corporators  were  named,  and  even  thousands  were 
included  in  the  various  London  trades  and  guilds 
that  were  joined  in  the  enterprise.  Among  the 
names  we  find  that  of  Captain  John  Smith.  But 
he  was  out  of  the  Council,  nor  was  he  given  then  or 
ever  afterward  any  place  or  employment  in  Vir- 
ginia, or  in  the  management  of  its  affairs.  The 
grant  included  all  the  American  coast  two  hundred 
miles  north  and  two  hundred  miles  south  of  Point 
Comfort,  and  all  the  territory  from  the  coast  up 
into  the  land  throughout  from  sea  to  sea,  west  and 
north-west.  A  leading  object  of  the  project  still 
being  (as  we  have  seen  it  was  with  Smith's  precious 
crew  at  Jamestown)  the  conversion  and  reduction 
of  the  natives  to  the  true  religion,  no  one  was  per- 


i6o9]       SMITH'S  LAST  DA  YS  IN  VIRGINIA.         1 73 

mitted  in  the  colony  who  had  not  taken  the  oath  of 
supremacy. 

Under  this  charter  the  Council  gave  a  commis- 
sion to  Sir  Thomas  West,  Lord  Delaware,  Captain- 
General  of  Virginia;  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  Lieutenant- 
General;  Sir  George  Somers,  Admiral;  Captain 
Newport,  Vice-Admiral;  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  High 
Marshal;  Sir  Frederick  Wainman,  General  of  the 
Horse,  and  many  other  officers  for  life. 

With  so  many  wealthy  corporators  money  flowed 
into  the  treasury,  and  a  great  expedition  was  read- 
ily fitted  out.  Towards  the  end  of  May,  1609,  there 
sailed  from  England  nine  ships  and  five  hundred 
people,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Thomas  Gates, 
Sir  George  Somers,  and  Captain  Newport.  Each 
of  these  commanders  had  a  commission,  and  the 
one  who  arrived  first  was  to  call  in  the  old  commis- 
sion; as  they  could  not  agree,  they  all  sailed  in  one 
ship,  the  Sea  Venture. 

This  brave  expedition  was  involved  in  a  contest 
with  a  hurricane;  one  vessel  was  sunk,  and  the  Sea 
Venture,  with  the  three  commanders,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  the  new  commissioners,  bills  of  lad- 
ing, all  sorts  of  instructions,  and  much  provision, 
was  wrecked  on  the  Berrnudas.  With  this  company 
was  William  Strachey,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more 
hereafter.  Seven  vessels  reached  Jamestown,  and 
brought,  among  other  annoyances,  Smith's  old  en- 
emy. Captain  Ratcliffe,  alias  Sicklemore,  in  com- 
mand of  a  ship.  Among  the  company  were  also 
Captains  Martin,  Archer,  Wood,  Webbe,  Moore, 
King,  Davis,  and  several  gentlemen  of  good  means, 
and  a  crowd  of  the  riff-raff  of  London.  Some  of 
these  Captains  whom  Smith  had  sent  home,  now 
returned  with  new  pretensions,  and  had  on  the  voy- 


174  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

age  prejudiced  the  company  against  him.  When 
the  fleet  was  first  espied  the  President  thought  it 
was  Spaniards,  and  prepared  to  defend  himself, 
the  Indians  promptly  coming  to  his  assistance. 

This  hurricane  tossed  about  another  expedition  still 
more  famous,  that  of  Henry  Hudson,  who  had  sailed 
from  England  on  his  third  voyage  toward  Nova  Zem- 
bla  March  25th,  and  in  July  and  August  was  beating 
down  the  Atlantic  coast.  On  the  i8th  of  August  he 
entered  the  Capes  of  Virginia,  and  sailed  a  little  way 
up  the  Bay.  He  knev.  he  was  at  the  mouth  of  the 
James  River,  "where  our  Englishmen  are,"  as  he  says. 
The  next  day  a  gale  from  the  north-east  made  him 
fear  being  driven  aground  in  the  shallows,  and  he  put 
to  sea.  The  storm  continued  for  several  days.  On 
the  2 1  St  "a  sea  broke  over  the  fore-course  and  split 
it;"  and  that  night  something  more  ominous  occurred: 
"  that  night  [the  chronicle  records]  our  cat  ran  crying 
from  one  side  of  the  ship  to  the  other,  looking  over- 
board, which  made  us  to  wonder,  but  we  saw  nothing." 
On  the  26th  they  were  again  off  the  bank  of  Virginia, 
and  in  the  very  bay  and  in  sight  of  the  islands  they 
had  seen  on  the  18th.  It  appeared  to  Hudson  "a 
great  bay  with  rivers,"  but  too  shallow  to  explore  with- 
out a  small  boat.  After  lingering  till  the  29th,  without 
any  suggestion  of  ascending  the  James,  he  sailed 
northward  and  made  the  lucky  stroke  of  river  explora- 
tion which  immortalized  him. 

It  seems  strange  that  he  did  not  search  for  the 
English  Colony,  but  the  adventurers  of  that  day  were 
independent  actors,  and  did  not  care  to  share  with 
each  other  the  glories  of  discovery. 

The  first  of  the  scattered  fleet  of  Gates  and  Somers 
came  in  on  the  nth,  and  the  rest  straggled  along  dur- 
ing the  three  or  four  days  following.     It  was  a  narrow 


i6og]       SMITH'S  LAST  DA  YS  IN  VIRGINIA.         175 

chance  that  Hudson  missed  them  all,  and  one  may 
imagine  that  the  fate  of  the  Virginia  colony  and  of  the 
New  York  settlement  would  have  been  different  if  the 
explorer  of  the  Hudson  had  gone  up  the  James. 

No  sooner  had  the  newcomers  landed  than  trou- 
ble began.  They  would  have  deposed  Smith  on  re- 
port of  the  new  commission,  but  they  could  show 
no  warrant.  Smith  professed  himself  willing  to  re- 
tire to  England,  but,  seeing  the  new  commission 
did  not  arrive,  held  on  to  his  authority,  and  began 
to  enforce  it  to  save  the  whole  colony  from  anarchy. 
He  depicts  the  situation  in  a  paragraph:  "To  a 
thousand  mischiefs  these  lewd  Captains  led  this 
lewd  company,  wherein  were  many  unruly  gallants, 
packed  thither  by  their  friends  to  escape  ill  desti- 
nies, and  those  would  dispose  and  determine  of  the 
government,  sometimes  to  one,  the  next  day  to  an- 
other; to-day  the  old  commission  must  rule,  to- 
morrow the  new,  the  next  day  neither;  in  fine,  they 
would  rule  all  or  ruin  all;  yet  in  charity  we  must 
endure  them  thus  to  destroy  us,  or  by  correcting 
their  follies,  have  brought  the  world's  censure  upon 
us  to  be  guilty  of  their  blouds.  Happie  had  we 
beene  had  they  never  arrived,  and  we  forever  aban- 
doned, as  we  were  left  to  our  fortunes;  for  on  earth 
for  their  number  was  never  more  confusion  or  mis- 
ery than  their  factions  occasioned."  In  this  com- 
pany came  a  boy,  named  Henry  Spelman,  whose 
subsequent  career  possesses  considerable  interest. 

The  President  proceeded  with  his  usual  vigor: 
he  "laid  by  the  heels"  the  chief  mischief-makers 
till  he  should  get  leisure  to  punish  them;  sent  Mr. 
West  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  good  men  to 
the  Falls  to  make  a  settlement;  and  dispatched 
Martin  with  near  as  many  and  their  proportion  of 


1/6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  3c 

provisions  to  Nansemond,  on  the  river  of  that  name 
emptying  into  the  James,  obliquely  opposite  Point 
Comfort. 

Lieutenant  Percy  was  sick  and  had  leave  to  depart 
for  England  when  he  chose.  The  President's  year 
being  about  expired,  in  accordance  with  the  char- 
ter, he  resigned,  and  Captain  Martin  was  elected 
President.  But  knowing  his  inability,  he,  after  hold- 
ing it  three  hours,  resigned  it  to  Smith,  and  went 
down  to  Nansemond.  The  tribe  used  him  kindly, 
but  he  was  so  frightened  with  their  noisy  demon- 
stration of  mirth  that  he  surprised  and  captured  the 
poor  naked  King  w^ith  his  houses,  and  began  forti- 
fying his  position,  showing  so  much  fear  that  the 
savages  were  emboldened  to  attack  him,  kill  some 
of  his  men,  release  their  King,  and  carry  off  a  thou- 
sand bushels  of  corn  which  had  been  purchased, 
Martin  not  offering  to  intercept  them.  The  fright- 
ened Captain  sent  to  Smith  for  aid,  who  dispatched 
to  him  thirty  good  shot.  Martin,  too  chicken-heart- 
ed to  use  them,  came  back  with  them  to  Jamestown, 
leaving  his  company  to  their  fortunes.  In  this  ad- 
venture the  President  commends  the  courage  of 
one  George  Forrest,  who,  with  seventeen  arrows 
sticking  into  him  and  one  shot  through  him,  lived 
six  or  seven  days. 

Meantime  Smith,  going  up  to  the  Falls  to  look 
after  Captain  West,  met  that  hero  on  his  way  to 
Jamestown.  He  turned  him  back,  and  found  that 
he  had  planted  his  colony  on  an  unfavorable  flat, 
subject  not  only  to  the  overflowing  of  the  river,  but 
to  more  intolerable  inconveniences.  To  place  him 
more  advantageously  the  President  sent  to  Pow- 
hatan, offering  to  buy  the  place  called  Powhatan, 
promising  to  defend  him  against  the  Monacans,  to 


1 609]       SMITH 'S  LAST  DAYS  IN  VIR  GIN  I  A .         1 7  7 

pay  him  in  copper,  and  make  a  general  alliance  of 
trade  and  friendship. 

But  "those  furies,"  as  Smith  calls  West  and  his 
associates,  refused  to  move  to  Powhatan  or  to  ac- 
cept these  conditions.  They  contemned  his  author- 
ity, expecting  all  the  time  the  new  commission,  and, 
regarding  all  the  Monacans  country  as  full  of  gold 
determined  that  no  one  should  interfere  with  them 
in  the  possession  of  it.  Smith,  however,  was  not 
intimidated  from  landing  and  attempting  to  quell 
their  mutiny.  In  his  "General  Historic"  it  is  writ- 
ten, "  I  doe  more  than  wonder  to  think  how  onely 
with  five  men  he  either  durst  or  would  adventure 
as  he  did  (knowing  how  greedy  they  were  of  his 
bloud)  to  come  amongst  them."  He  landed  and 
ordered  the  arrest  of  the  chief  disturbers,  but  the 
crowd  hustled  him  off.  .  He  seized  one  of  their  boats 
and  escaped  to  the  ship  which  contained  the  pro- 
vision. Fortunately  the  sailors  were  friendly  and 
saved  his  life,  and  a  considerable  number  of  the 
better  sort,  seeing  the  malice  of  Ratcliffe  and 
Archer,  took  Smith's  part. 

Out  of  the  occurrences  at  this  new  settlement 
grew  many  of  the  charges  which  were  preferred 
against  Smith.  According  to  the  "  General  Historic" 
the  company  of  Ratcliffe  and  Archer  was  a  disor- 
derly rabble,  constantly  tormenting  the  Indians, 
stealing  their  corn,  robbing  their  gardens,  beating 
them,  and  breaking  into  their  houses  and  taking 
them  prisoners.  The  Indians  daily  complained  to 
the  President  that  these  "  protectors  "  he  had  given 
them  were  worse  enemies  than  the  Monacans,  and 
desired  his  pardon  if  they  defended  themselves, 
since  he  could  not  punish  their  tormentors.  They 
even  proposed  to  fight  for  him  against  them.     Smith 


178  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

says  that  after  spending  nine  days  in  trying  to  re- 
strain them,  and  showing  them  how  they  deceived 
themselves  with  "great  guilded  hopes  of  the  South 
Sea  Mines,"  he  abandoned  them  to  their  folly  and 
set  sail  for  Jamestown. 

No  sooner  was  he  under  way  than  the  savages  at- 
tacked the  fort, slew  many  of  the  whites  who  were  out- 
side, rescued  their  friends  who  were  prisoners,  and 
thoroughly  terrified  the  garrison.  Smith's  ship  hap- 
pening to  go  aground  half  a  league  below,  they  sent 
off  to  him,  and  were  glad  to  submit  on  any  terms 
to  his  mercy.  He  "  put  by  the  heels"  six  or  seven 
of  the  chief  offenders,  and  transferred  the  colony 
to  Powhatan,  where  were  a  fort  capable  of  defense 
against  all  the  savages  in  Virginia,  dry  houses  for 
lodging,  and  two  hundred  acres  of  ground  ready  to 
be  planted.  This  place,  so  strong  and  delightful  in 
situation,  they  called  Non-such.  The  savages  ap- 
peared and  exchanged  captives,  and  all  became 
friends  again. 

At  this  moment,  unfortunately,  Capt.  West  re- 
turned. All  the  victuals  and  munitions  having 
been  put  ashore,  the  old  factious  projects  were  re- 
vived. The  soft-hearted  West  was  made  to  believe 
that  the  rebellion  had  been  solely  on  his  account. 
Smith,  seeing  them  bent  on  their  own  way,  took 
the  row-boat  for  Jamestown.  The  colony  aban- 
doned the  pleasant  Non-such  and  returned  to  the 
open  air  at  West's  Fort.  On  his  way  down  Smith 
met  with  the  accident  that  suddenly  terminated  his 
career  in  Virginia. 

While  he  was  sleeping  in  his  boat  his  powder-bag 
was  accidentally  fired;  the  explosion  tore  the  flesh 
from  his  body  and  thighs,  nine  or  ten  inches  square, 
in  the  most  frightful  manner.     To  quench  the  tor- 


1609]       SMITH'S  LAST  DA  YS  IN  VIRGINIA.         1/9 

menting  fire,  frying  him  in  his  clothes,  he  leaped 
into  the  deep  river,  where,  ere  they  could  recover 
him,  he  was  nearly  drowned.  In  this  pitiable  con- 
dition, without  either  surgeon  or  surgery,  he  was 
to  go  nearly  a  hundred  miles. 

It  is  now  time  for  the  appearance  upon  the  scene 
of  the  boy  Henry  Spelman,  with  his  brief  narration, 
which  touches  this  period  of  Smith's  life.  Henry 
Spelman  was  the  third  son  of  the  distinguished 
antiquarian.  Sir  Henry  Spelman,  of  Coughan,  Nor- 
folk, who  was  married  in  1581.  It  is  reasonably 
conjectured  that  he  could  not  have  been  over  twen- 
ty-one when  in  May,  1609,  he  joined  the  company 
going  to  Virginia.  Henry  was  evidently  a  scape- 
grace, whose  friends  were  willing  to  be  rid  of 
him.  Such  being  his  character,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  he  was  shipped  bound  as  an  ap- 
prentice, and  of  course  with  the  conditions  of 
apprenticeship  in  like  expeditions  of  that  period — 
to  be  sold  or  bound  out  at  the  end  of  the  voyage 
to  pay  for  his  passage.  He  remained  for  several 
years  in  Virginia,  living  most  of  the  time  among 
the  Indians,  and  a  sort  of  indifferent  go-between 
of  the  savages  and  the  settlers.  According  to 
his  own  story  it  was  on  October  20,  1609,  that  he 
was  taken  up  the  river  to  Powhatan  by  Capt.  Smith, 
and  it  was  in  April,  1613,  that  he  was  rescued  from 
his  easy-setting  captivity  on  the  Potomac  by  Capt. 
Argall.  During  his  sojourn  in  Virginia,  or  more 
probably  shortly  after  his  return  to  England,  he 
wrote  a  brief  and  bungling  narration  of  his  experi- 
ences in  the  colony,  and  a  description  of  Indian 
life.  The  MS.  was  not  printed  in  his  time,  but  mis- 
laid or  forgotten.  By  a  strange  series  of  chances 
it  turned  up  in  our  day,  and  was  identified  and  pre- 


l80  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  30 

pared  for  the  press  in  1861.  Before  the  proof  was 
read  the  type  was  accidentally  broken  up  and  the 
MS.  again  mislaid.  Lost  sight  of  for  several  years, 
it  was  recovered  and  a  small  number  of  copies  of 
it  were  printed  at  London  in  1872,  edited  by  Mr. 
James  F.  Hunnewell. 

Spelman's  narration  would  be  very  important  if 
we  could  trust  it.  He  appeared  to  have  set  down 
what  he  saw,  and  his  story  has  a  certain  simplicity 
that  gains  for  it  some  credit.  .  But  he  was  a  reck- 
less boy,  unaccustomed  to  weigh  evidence,  and 
quite  likely  to  write  as  facts  the  rumors  that  he 
heard.  He  took  very  readily  to  the  ways  of  Indian 
life.  Some  years  after,  Spelman  returned  to  Vir- 
ginia with  the  title  of  Captain,  and  in  161 7  we  find 
this  reference  to  him  in  the  "General  Historie": 
"  Here,  as  at  many  other  times,  we  are  beholden  to 
Capt.  Henry  Spilman,  an  interpreter,  a  gentleman 
that  lived  long  time  in  this  country,  and  sometimes 
a  prisoner  among  the  Salvages,  and  done  much 
good  service  though  but  badly  rewarded."  Smith 
would  probably  not  have  left  this  on  record  had  he 
been  aware  of  the  contents  of  the  MS.  that  Spel- 
man had  left  for  after-times. 

Spelman  begins  his  Relation,  from  which  I  shall 
quote  substantially,  without  following  the  spelling 
or  noting  all  the  interlineations,  with  the  reason  for 
his  emigration,  which  was,  "  being  in  displeasure  of 
my  friends,  and  desirous  to  see  other  countries." 
After  a  brief  account  of  the  voyage  and  the  joyful 
arrival  at  Jamestown,  the  Relation  continues: 

"  Having  here  unloaded  our  goods  and  bestowed  some 
senight  or  fortnight  in  viewing  the  country,  I  was  carried 
by  Capt.  Smith,  our  President,  to  the  Falls,  to  the  little 
Powhatan,  where,  unknown  to  me,  he  sold  me  to  him  for 


1609]       SMITH'S  LAST  DAYS  IN  VIRGINIA.  181 

a  town  called  Powhatan  ;  and,  leaving  me  with  him,  the 
little  Powhatan,  he  made  known  to  Capt.  West  how  he 
had  bought  a  town  for  them  to  dwell  in.  Whereupon 
Capt.  West,  growing  angry  because  he  had  bestowed  cost 
to  begin  a  town  in  another  place,  Capt.  Smith  desiring 
that  Capt.  West  would  come  and  settle  himself  there,  but 
Capt.  West,  having  bestowed  cost  to  begin  a  town  in  an- 
other place,  misliked  it,  and  unkindness  thereupon  arising 
between  them,  Capt.  Smith  at  that  time  replied  little,  but 
afterward  combined  with  Powhatan  to  kill  Capt.  West, 
which  plot  took  but  small  effect,  for  in  the  meantime 
Capt.  Smith  was  apprehended  and  sent  aboard  for  Eng- 
land." 

That  this  roving  boy  was  "  thrown  in"  as  a  make- 
weight in  the  trade  for  the  town  is  not  impossible; 
but  that  Smith  combined  with  Powhatan  to  kill 
Capt.  West  is  doubtless  West's  perversion  of  the 
offer  of  the  Indians  to  fight  on  Smith's  side  against 
him. 

According  to  Spelman's  Relation,  he  stayed  only 
seven  or  eight  days  with  the  little  Powhatan,  when 
he  got  leave  to  go  to  Jamestown,  being  desirous  to 
see  the  English  and  to  fetch  the  small  articles  that 
belonged  to  him.  The  Indian  King  agreed  to  wait 
for  him  at  that  place,  but  he  stayed  too  long,  and  on 
his  return  the  little  Powhatan  had  departed,  and 
Spelman  went  back  to  Jamestown.  Shortly  after, 
the  great  Powhatan  sent  Thomas  Savage  with  a 
present  of  venison  to  President  Percy.  Savage  was 
loath  to  return  alone,  and  Spelman  was  appointed  to 
go  with  him,  which  he  did  willingly,  as  victuals 
were  scarce  in  camp.  He  carried  some  copper  and 
a  hatchet,  which  he  presented  to  Powhatan,  and 
that  Emperor  treated  him  and  his  comrade  very 
kindly,  seating  them  at  his  own  mess-table.  After 
some  three  weeks  of  this  life,  Powhatan  sent  this 


1 82  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

guileless  youth  down  to  decoy  the  English  into  his 
hands,  promising  to  freight  a  ship  with  corn  if  they 
would  visit  him.  Spelman  took  the  message  and 
brought  back  the  English  reply,  whereupon  Pow- 
hatan laid  the  plot  which  resulted  in  the  killing  of 
Capt.  Ratcliffe  and  thirty-eight  men,  only  two  of 
his  company  escaping  to  Jamestown.  Spelman 
gives  two  versions  of  this  incident.  During  the 
massacre  Spelman  says  that  Powhatan  sent  him 
and  Savage  to  a  town  some  sixteen  miles  away. 
Smith's  "General  Historic"  says  that  on  this  occa- 
sion "  Pocahuntas  saved  a  boy  named  Henry  Spil- 
man  that  lived  many  years  afterward,  by  her  means, 
among  the  Patawomekes."  Spelman  says  not  a 
word  about  Pocahuntas.  On  the  contrary,  he  de- 
scribes the  visit  of  the  King  of  the  Patawomekes  to 
Powhatan;  says  that  the  King  took  a  fancy  to  him; 
that  he  and  Dutch  Samuel,  fearing  for  their  lives, 
escaped  from  Powhatan's  town;  were  pursued;  that 
Samuel  was  killed,  and  that  Spelman,  after  dodging 
about  in  the  forest,  found  his  way  to  the  Potomac, 
where  he  lived  with  this  good  King  Patomecke  at 
a  place  called  Pasptanzie  for  more  than  a  year. 
Here  he  seems  to  have  passed  his  time  agreeably, 
for  although  he  had  occasional  fights  with  the 
squaws  of  Patomecke,  the  King  was  always  his 
friend,  and  so  much  was  he  attached  to  the  boy 
that  he  would  not  give  him  up  to  Capt.  Argall 
without  some  copper  in  exchange. 

When  Smith  returned  wounded  to  Jamestown,  he 
was  physically  in  no  condition  to  face  the  situation. 
With  no  medical  attendance,  his  death  was  not  im- 
probable. He  had  no  strength  to  enforce  discipline 
nor  organize  expeditions  for  supplies;  besides, 
he  was  acting  under   a   commission  whose  virtue 


i6o9]       SMITH'S  LAST  DAYS  IN  VIRGINIA.         1 83 

had  expired,  and  the  mutinous  spirits  rebelled 
against  his  authority.  Ratcliffe,  Archer,  and  the 
others  who  were  awaiting  trial  conspired  against 
him,  and  Smith  says  he  would  have  been  murdered 
in  his  bed  if  the  murderer's  heart  had  not  failed 
him  when  he  went  to  fire  his  pistol  at  the  defense- 
less sick  man.  However,  Smith  was  forced  to 
yield  to  circumstances.  No  sooner  had  he  given 
out  that  he  would  depart  for  England  than  they 
persuaded  Mr.  Percy  to  stay  and  act  as  President, 
and  all  eyes  were  turned  in  expectation  of  favor 
upon  the  new  commanders.  Smith  being  thus  di- 
vested of  authority,  the  most  of  the  colony  turned 
against  him;  many  preferred  charges,  and  began  to 
collect  testimony.  "  The  ships  were  detained  three 
weeks  to  get  up  proofs  of  his  ill-conduct" — "  time 
and  charges,"  says  Smith  dryly,  "  that  might  much 
better  have  been  spent." 

It  must  have  enraged  the  doughty  Captain,  lying 
thus  helpless,  to  see  his  enemies  triumph,  the  most 
factious  of  the  disturbers  in  the  colony  in  charge 
of  affairs,  and  become  his  accusers.  Even  at  this 
distance  we  can  read  the  account  with  little  pa- 
tience, and  should  have  none  at  all  if  the  account 
were  not  edited  by  Smith  himself.  His  revenge 
was  in  his  good  fortune  in  setting  his  own  story 
afloat  in  the  current  of  history.  The  first  narrative 
of  these  events,  published  by  Smith  in  his  Oxford 
tract  of  161 2,  was  considerably  remodeled  and  \ 
changed  in  his  '' General  Historie"  of  1624.  As  we 
have  said  before,  he  had  a  progressive  memory, 
and  his  opponents  ought  to  be  thankful  that  the 
pungent  Captain  did  not  live  to  work  the  story 
over  a  third  time. 

It  is  no  doubt^  true,  however,  that  but  for  the 


1 84  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

accident  to  our  hero,  he  would  have  continued  to 
rule  till  the  arrival  of  Gates  and  Somers  with  the 
new  commissions;  as  he  himself  says,  "but  had 
that  unhappy  blast  not  happened,  he  would  quickly 
have  qualified  the  heat  of  those  humors  and  fac- 
tions, had  the  ships  but  once  left  them  and  us  to 
our  fortunes;  and  have  made  that  provision  from 
among  the  salvages,  as  we  neither  feared  Spaniard, 
Salvage,  nor  famine:  nor  would  have  left  Virginia 
nor  our  lawful  authority,  but  at  as  dear  a  price  as 
we  had  bought  it,  and  paid  for  it." 

He  doubtless  would  have  fought  it  out  against 
all  comers;  and  who  shall  say  that  he  does  not  merit 
the  glowing  eulogy  on  himself  which  he  inserts  in 
his  General  History  ?  "  What  shall  I  say  but  this, 
we  left  him,  that  in  all  his  proceedings  made  justice 
his  first  guide,  and  experience  his  second,  ever 
hating  baseness,  sloth,  pride,  and  indignity,  more 
than  any  dangers;  that  upon  no  danger  would  send 
them  where  he  would  not  lead  them  himself;  that 
would  never  see  us  want  what  he  either  had  or 
could  by  any  means  get  us;  that  would  rather  want 
than  borrow;  or  starve  than  not  pay;  that  loved 
action  more  than  words,  and  hated  falsehood  and 
covetousness  worse  than  death;  whose  adventures 
were  our  lives,  and  whose  loss  our  deaths." 

A  handsomer  thing  never  was  said  of  another 
man  than  Smith  could  say  of  himself,  but  he  be- 
lieved it,  as  also  did  many  of  his  comrades,  we 
must  suppose.  He  suffered  detraction  enough,  but 
he  suffered  also  abundant  eulogy  both  in  verse  and 
prose.  Among  his  eulogists,  of  course,  is  not  the 
factious  Capt.  Ratcliffe.  In  the  English  Colonial 
State  papers,  edited  by  Mr.  Noel  Sainsbury,  is  a 
note,  dated  Jamestown,  October  4,'i6o9,  from  Capt. 


l6og]        SMITH'S  LAST  DAYS  IN  VIRGINIA.  185 

"John  Radclyffe  comenly  called,"  to  the  Earl  of 
Salisbury,  which  contains  this  remark  upon  Smith's 
departure  after  the  arrival  of  the  last  supply:  "  They 
heard  that  all  the  Council  were  dead  but  Capt. 
[John]  Smith,  President,  who  reigned  sole  Gov- 
ernor, and  is  now  sent  home  to  answer  some  mis- 
demeanor." 

Capt.  Archer  also  regards  this  matter  in  a  differ- 
ent light  from  that  in  which  Smith  represents  it. 
In  a  letter  from  Jamestown,  written  in  August,  he 
says : 

"  In  as  much  as  the  President  [Smith],  to  strengthen  his 
authority,  accorded  with  the  variances  and  gave  not  any 
due  respect  to  many  worthy  gentlemen  that  were  in  our 
ships,  wherefore  they  generally,  with  my  consent,  chose 
Master  West,  my  Lord  De  La  Ware's  brother,  their  Gov- 
ernor or  President  de  be7ie  esse,  in  the  absence  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gates,  or  if  he  be  miscarried  by  sea,  then  to  con- 
tinue till  we  heard  news  from  our  counsell  in  England. 
This  choice  of  him  they  made  not  to  disturb  the  old  Pres- 
ident during  his  term,  but  as  his  authority  expired,  then 
to  take  upon  him  the  sole  government,  with  such  assist- 
ants of  the  captains  or  discreet  persons  as  the  colony 
afforded. 

"  Perhaps  you  shall  have  it  blamed  as  a  mutinie  by  such 
as  retaine  old  malice,  but  Master  West,  Master  Piercie, 
and  all  the  respected  gentlemen  of  worth  in  Virginia,  can 
and  will  testify  otherwise  upon  their  oaths.  For  the 
King's  patent  we  ratified,  but  refused  to  be  governed  by 
the  President — that  is,  after  his  time  was  expired — and 
only  subjected  ourselves  to  Master  West,  whom  we  labor 
to  have  next  President.''" 

It  is  clear  from  this  statement  that  the  attempt 
was  made  to  supersede  Smith  even  before  his  time 
expired,  and  without  any  authority  (since  the  new 
commissions  were  still  with  Gates  and  Somers  in 
Bermuda),  for  the  reason  that  Smith  did  not  pay 


186  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

proper  respect  to  the  newly  arrived  ^'gentlemen." 
Smith  was  no  doubt  dictatorial  and  offensive,  and 
from  his  point  of  view  he  was  the  only  man  who 
understood  Virginia,  and  knew  how  successfully  to 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  If  this  assump- 
tion were  true  it  would  be  none  the  less  disagreea- 
ble to  the  new-comers. 

At  the  time  of  Smith's  deposition  the  colony  was 
in  prosperous  condition.  The  "  General  Historic  " 
says  that  he  left  them  "  with  three  ships,  seven 
boats,  commodities  ready  to  trade,  the  harvest 
newly  gathered,  ten  weeks'  provision  in  store,  four 
hundred  ninety  and  odd  persons,  twenty-four  pieces 
of  ordnance,  three  hundred  muskets,  snaphances 
and  firelocks,  shot,  powder  and  match  sufficient, 
curats,  pikes,  swords,  and  morrios,  more  than  men; 
the  Salvages,  their  language  and  habitations  well 
known  to  a  hundred  well-trained  and  expert  sol- 
diers; nets  for  fishing;  tools  of  all  kinds  to  work; 
apparel  to  supply  our  wants;  six  mules  and  a  horse; 
five  or  six  hundred  swine;  as  many  hens  and  chick- 
ens; some  goats;  some  sheep;  what  was  brought 
or  bred  there  remained."  Jamestown  was  also 
strongly  palisaded  and  contained  some  fifty  or  sixty 
houses;  besides  there  were  five  or  six  other  forts 
and  plantations,  ''  not  so  sumptuous  as  our  succer- 
ers  expected,  they  were  better  than  they  provided 
any  for  us." 

These  expectations  might  well  be  disappointed  if 
they  were  founded  upon  the  pictures  of  forts  and 
fortifications  in  Virginia  and  in  the  Somers  Islands, 
which  appeared  in  De  Bry  and  in  the  "  General 
Historic,"  where  they  appear  as  massive  stone  struc- 
tures with  all  the  finish  and  elegance  of  the  Eu- 
ropean military  science  of  the  day. 


i6o9]       SMITH'S  LAST  DA  YS  IN   VIRGINIA.         1 87 

Notwithstanding  these  ample  provisions  for  the 
colony,  Smith  had  small  expectation  that  it  would 
thrive  without  him.  "  They  regarding  nothing," 
he  says,  "  but  from  hand  to  mouth,  did  consume 
what  we  had,  took  care  for  nothing  but  to  perfect 
some  colorable  complaint  against  Captain  Smith." 

Nor  was  the  composition  of  the  colony  such  as  to 
beget  high  hopes  of  it.  There  was  but  one  car- 
penter, and  three  others  that  desired  to  learn,  two 
blacksmiths,  ten  sailors;  those  called  laborers  were 
for  the  most  part  footmen,  brought  over  to  wait 
upon  the  adventurers,  who  did  not  know  what  a 
day's  work  was — all  the  real  laborers  were  the 
Dutchmen  and  Poles  and  some  dozen  others.  "  For 
all  the  rest  were  poor  gentlemen,  tradesmen,  serving 
men,  libertines,  and  such  like,  ten  times  more  fit  to 
spoil  a  commonwealth  than  either  begin  one  or  help 
to  maintain  one.  For  when  neither  the  fear  of 
God,  nor  the  law,  nor  shame,  nor  displeasure  of 
their  friends  could  rule  them  here,  there  is  small 
hope  ever  to  bring  one  in  twenty  of  them  to  be  good 
there."  Some  of  them  proved  more  industrious 
than  was  expected;  "  but  ten  good  workmen  would 
have  done  more  substantial  work  in  a  day  than  ten 
of  them  in  a  week." 

The  disreputable  character  of  the  majority  of 
these  colonists  is  abundantly  proved  by  other  con- 
temporary testimony.  In  the  letter  of  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  Virginia  to  the  London  Company, 
dated  Jamestown,  July  7th,  1610,  signed  by  Lord 
De  La  Ware,  Thomas  Gates,  George  Percy,  Ferd. 
Wenman  and  William  Strachey,  and  probably  com- 
posed by  Strachey,  after  speaking  of  the  bountiful 
capacity  of  the  country,  the  writer  exclaims:  ''Only 
let  me  truly  acknowledge  there  are  not  one  hundred 


l88  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30 

or  two  of  deboisht  hands,  dropt  forth  by  year  after 
year,  with  penury  and  leysure,  ill  provided  for  be- 
fore they  come,  and  worse  governed  when  they  are 
here,  men  of  such  distempered  bodies  and  infected 
minds,  whom  no  examples  daily  before  their  eyes, 
either  of  goodness  or  punishment,  can  deterr  from 
their  habituall  impieties,  or  terrific  from  a  shame- 
ful death,  that  must  be  the  carpenters  and  workmen 
in  this  so  glorious  a  building." 

The  chapter  in  the  "General  Historic"  relating  to 
Smith's  last  days  in  Virginia  was  transferred  from 
the  narrative  in  the  appendix  to  Smith's  "  Map  of 
Virginia,"  Oxford  161 2,  but  much  changed  in  the 
transfer.  In  the  "  General  Historic "  Smith  says 
very  little  about  the  nature  of  the  charges  against 
him.  In  the  original  narrative  signed  by  Richard 
Pots  and  edited  by  Smith,  there  are  more  details  of 
the  charges.  One  omitted  passage  is  this:  "Now 
all  those  Smith  had  either  whipped  or  punished,  or 
in  any  way  disgraced,  had  free  power  and  liberty 
to  say  or  sweare  anything,  and  from  a  whole  armful 
of  their  examinations  this  was  concluded." 

Another  omitted  passage  relates  to  the  charge,  to 
which  reference  is  made  in  the  "  General  Historic," 
that  Smith  proposed  to  marry  Pocahontas  : 

"  Some  propheticall  spirit  calculated  he  had  the  salvages 
in  such  subjection,  he  would  have  made  himself  a  king  by 
marrying  Pocahuntas,  Powhatan's  daughter.  It  is  true 
she  was  the  very  nonpareil  of  his  kingdom,  and  at  most 
not  past  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age.  Very  oft  she 
came  to  our  fort  with  what  she  could  get  for  Capt.  Smith, 
that  ever  loved  and  used  all  the  country  well,  but  her  es- 
pecially he  ever  much  respected,  and  she  so  well  requited 
it,  that  when  her  father  intended  to  have  surprised  him, 
she  by  stealth  in  the  dark  night  came  through  the  wild 


1609]       SMITH'S  LAST  DA  YS  IN  VIRGINIA.         1 89 

woods  and  told  him  of  it.  But  her  marriage  could  in  no 
way  have  entitled  him  by  any  right  to  the  kingdom,  nor 
was  it  ever  suspected  he  had  such  a  thought,  or  more  re- 
garded her  or  any  of  them  than  in  honest  reason  and  dis- 
cretion he  might.  If  he  would  he  might  have  married 
her,  or  have  done  what  he  listed.  For  there  were  none 
that  could  have  hindered  his  determination." 

It  is  fair,  in  passing,  to  remark  that  the  above 
allusion  to  the  night  visit  of  Pocahontas  to  Smith 
in  this  tract  of  161 2  helps  to  confirm  the  story, 
which  does  not  appear  in  the  previous  narration  of 
Smith's  encounter  with  Powhatan  at  Werowoco- 
moco  in  the  same  trace,  but  is  celebrated  in  the 
*'  General  Historic."  It  is  also  hinted  plainly  enough 
that  Smith  might  have  taken  the  girl  to  wife,  In- 
dian fashion. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    COLONY    WITHOUT    SMITH. 

IT  is  necessary  to  follow  for  a  time  the  fortune  of 
the  Virginia  colony  after  the  departure  of  Capt. 
Smith.  Of  its  disasters  and  speedy  decline  there 
is  no  more  doubt  than  there  is  of  the  opinion  of 
Smith  that  these  were  owing  to  his  absence.  The 
savages,  we  read  in  his  narration,  no  sooner  knew 
he  was  gone  than  they  all  revolted  and  spoiled  and 
murdered  all  they  encountered. 

The  day  before  Capt.  Smith  sailed,  Capt.  Davis 
arrived  in  a  small  pinnace  with  sixteen  men.  These, 
with  a  company  from  the  fort  under  Capt.  Rat- 
cliffe,  were  sent  down  to  Point  Comfort.  Capt. 
West  and  Capt.  Martin,  having  lost  their  boats  and 
half  their  men  among  the  savages  at  the  Falls,  re- 
turned to  Jamestown.  The  colony  now  lived  upon 
what  Smith  had  provided,  "  and  now  they  had  pres- 
idents with  all  their  appurtenances.  President 
Percy  was  so  sick  he  could  neither  go  nor  stand. 
Provisions  getting  short,  West  and  Ratcliffe  went 
abroad  to  trade,  and  Ratcliffe  and  twenty-eight  of 
his  men  were  slain  by  an  ambush  of  Powhatan's,  as 
before  related  in  the  narrative  of  Henry  Spelman. 
Powhatan  cut  off  their  boats,  and  refused  to  trade, 
so  that  Capt.  West  set  sail  for  England.  What  en- 
sued cannot  be  more  vividly  told  than  in  the  "  Gen- 
eral Historie  ": 

"  Now  we  all  found  the  losse  of  Capt.  Smith,  yea  his 
greatest  maligners  could  now  curse  his  losse  ;  as  for  corne 


i6o9-io]     THE   COLONY  WITHOUT  SMITH.  I9I 

provision   and   contribution   from   the  salvages,  we  had 
nothing  but  mortall  wounds,  with  clubs  and  arrowes ;  as 
for  our  hogs,  hens,  goats,  sheep,  horse,  or  what  lived,  oui 
commanders,  officers  and  salvages  daily  consumed  them, 
some  small  proportions  sometimes  we  tasted,  till  all  was 
devoured ;   then   swords,   arms,    pieces   or   anything  was 
traded  with  the  salvages,  whose  cruell  fingers  were  so  oft 
imbrued   in  our  blouds,  that  what  by  their  crueltic,  our 
Governor's  indiscretion,  and  the  losse  of  our  ships,  oifixe 
/i undred  vfithm  six  months  after  Capt.  Smith's  departure, 
there  remained  7tot  past  sixty  men,  ivofiien  and  children, 
most  miserable  and  poore  creatures  ;  and  those _were  pre- 
served for  the  most  part,  by  roots,  herbes,  acorns,  walnuts, 
berries,  now  and  then  a  little  fish  ;  they  that  had  starch  in 
these  extremities  made  no  small  use  of  it,  yea,  even  the 
very  skinnes  of  our  horses.     Nay,  so  great  was  our  fam- 
ine, that  a  salvage  we  slew  and  buried,  the  poorer  sort 
took  him  up  again  and  eat  him,  and  so  did  divers  one 
another  boyled,  and  stewed  with  roots  and  herbs.     And 
one  amongst  the  rest  did  kill   his  wife,  pondered  her  and 
had  eaten  part  of  her  before  it  was  knowne,  for  which  he 
was  executed,  as   he  well  deserved  ;  now  whether  she  was 
better  roasted,  boyled,  or  carbonaded,  I  know  not,  but  of 
such  a  dish  as  powdered  wife  I  never  heard  of.     This  was 
that  time,  which  still  to  this  day  we  called  the  starving 
time ;  it  were  too  vile  to  say  and  scarce  to  be  believed 
what  we  endured ;  but  the  occasion  was  our  owne,  for 
want  of  providence,  Industrie  and  government,  and  not 
the  barreness  and  defect  of  the  country  as  is  generally 
supposed." 

This  playful  allusion  to  powdered  wife,  and  spec- 
ulation as  to  how  she  was  best  cooked,  is  the  first 
instance  we  have  been  able  to  find  of  what  is  called 
"  American  humor,"  and  Capt.  Smith  has  the  honor 
of  being  the  •  first  of  the  ''American  humorists" 
who  have  handled  subjects  of  this  kind  with  such 
pleasing  gaye.ty. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  this  horrible  story  of  can- 


192  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [ 1 609-10 

nibalism  and  wife-eating  appears  in  Smith's  "  Gen- 
eral Historie"  of  1624,  without  a  word  of  contradic- 
tion or  explanation,  although  the  company  as  early 
as  16 10  had  taken  pains  to  get  at  the  facts,  and 
Smith  must  have  seen  their  "  Declaration,"  which 
supposes  the  story  was  started  by  enemies  of  the 
colony.  Some  reported  they  saw  it,  some  that 
Capt.  Smith  said  so,  and  some  that  one  Beadle,  the 
lieutenant  of  Capt.  Davis,  did  relate  it.  In  "  A 
True  Declaration  of  the  State  of  the  Colonic  in 
Virginia,"  published  by  the  advice  and  direction  of 
the  Councill  of  Virginia,  London,  1610,  we  read  : 

"  But  to  clear  all  doubt,  Sir  Thomas  Yates  thus  relateth 
the  tragedie : 

"  There  was  one  of  the  company  who  mortally  hated 
his  wife,  and  therefore  secretly  killed  her,  then  cut  her 
■in  pieces  and  hid  her  in  divers  parts  of  his  house  :  when 
the  woman  was  missing,  the  man  suspected,  his  house 
searched,  and  parts  of  her  mangled  body  were  discovered, 
to  excuse  himself  he  said  that  his  wife  died,  that  he  hid 
her  to  satisfie  his  hunger,  and  that  he  fed  daily  upon  her. 
Upon  this  his  house  was  again  searched,  when  they  found 
a  good  quantitie  of  meale,  oatmeale,  beanes  and  pease. 
Hee  therefore  was  arraigned,  confessed  the  murder,  and 
was  burned  for  his  horrible  villainy." 

This  same  "True  Declaration,"  which  singularly 
enough  does  not  mention  the  name  of  Capt.  Smith, 
who  was  so  prominent  an  actor  in  Virginia  during 
the  period  to  which  it  relates,  confirms  all  that 
Smith  said  as  to  the  character  of  the  colonists,  es- 
pecially the  new  supply  which  landed  in  the  eight 
vessels  with  Ratcliffe  and  Archer.  "  Every  man 
overvalueing  his  own  strength  would  be  a  com- 
mander ;  every  man  underprizing  another's  value, 
denied  to  be  commanded."  They  were  negligent 
and    improvident.     "Every    man    sharked    for   his 


i6o9-io]     THE   COLONY  WITHOUT  SMITH.  1 93 

present  bootie,  but  was  altogether  careless  of  suc- 
ceeding penurie."  To  idleness  and  faction  was 
joined  treason.  About  thirty  "  unhallowed  crea- 
tures," in  the  winter  of  1610,  some  five  months  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  Capt.  Gates,  seiz-ed  upon  the  ship 
Swallow^  which  had  been  prepared  to  trade  with  the 
Indians,  and  having  obtained  corn  conspired  to- 
gether and  made  a  league  to  become  pirates,  dream- 
ing of  mountains  of  gold  and  happy  robberies.  By 
this  desertion  they  weakened  the  colony,  which 
waited  for  their  return  with  the  provisions,  and  they 
made  implacable  enemies  of  the  Indians  by  their 
violence,  ''These  are  that  scum  of  men,"  which, 
after  roving  the  seas  and  failing  in  their  piracy, 
joined  themselves  to  other  pirates  they  found  on  the 
sea,  or  returned  to  England,  bound  by  a  mutual 
oath  to  discredit  the  land,  and  swore  they  were 
drawn  away  by  famine.  "  These  are  they  that  roared 
at  the  tragicall  historic  of  the  man  eating  up  his 
dead  wife  in  Virginia  " — "  scandalous  reports  of  a 
viperous  generation." 

If  further  evidence  were  wanting,  we  have  it  in 
"The  New  Life  of  Virginia,"  published  by  author- 
ity of  the  Council,  London,  1612.  This  is  the  second 
part  of  the  "  Nova  Britannia,"  published  in  London, 
1609.  Both  are  prefaced  by  an  epistle  to  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  one  of  the  Council  and  treasurer,  signed 
"  R.  I."  Neither  document  contains  any  allusion  to 
Capt.  John  Smith,  or  the  part  he  played  in  Virginia. 
The  "New  Life  of  Virginia,"  after  speaking  of  the 
tempest  which  drove  Sir  Thomas  Gates  on  Bermuda, 
and  the  landing  of  the  eight  ships  at  Jamestown, 
says  :  "  By  which  means  the  body  of  the  plantation 
was  now  augmented  with  such  numbers  of  irregular 
persons  that  it  soon  became  as  so  many  members 


194  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1609-10 

without  a  head,  who  as  they  were  bad  and  evil 
affected  for  the  most  part  before  they  went  hence  ; 
so  now  being  landed  and  wanting  restraint,  they  dis- 
played their  condition  in  ail  kinds  of  looseness,  those 
chief  and  wisest  guides  among  them  (whereof  there 
were  not  many)  did  nothing  but  bitterly  contend 
who  should  be  first  to  command  the  rest,  the  com- 
mon sort,  as  is  ever  seen  in  such  cases  grew  factious 
and  disordered  out  of  measure,  in  so  much  as  the 
poor  colony  seemed  (like  the  Colledge  of  English 
fugitives  in  Rome)  as  a  hostile  camp  within  itself ; 
in  which  distemper  that  envious  man  stept  in,  sow- 
ing plentiful  tares  in  the  hearts  of  all,  which  grew 
to  such  speedy  confusion,  that  in  few  months  ambi- 
tion, sloth  and  idleness  had  devoured  the  fruit  of 
former  labours,  planting  and  sowing  were  clean 
given  over,  the  houses  decayed,  the  church  fell  to 
ruin,  the  store  was  spent,  the  cattle  consumed,  our 
people  starved,  and  the  Indians  by  wrongs  and  in- 
juries made  our  enemies.  ...  As  for  those  wicked 
Impes  that  put  themselves  a  shipboard,  not  knowing 
otherwise  how  to  live  in  England  ;  or  those  ungra- 
tious  sons  that  daily  vexed  their  fathers  hearts  at 
home,  and  were  therefore  thrust  upon  the  voyage, 
which  either  writing  thence,  or  being  returned  back 
to  cover  their  own  leudnes,  do  fill  mens  ears  with 
false  reports  of  their  miserable  and  perilous  life  in 
Virginia,  let  the  imputation  of  misery  be  to  their 
idleness,  and  the  blood  that  was  spilt  upon  their 
own  heads  that  caused  it." 

Sir  Thomas  Gates  affirmed  that  after  his  first  com- 
ing there  he  had  seen  some  of  them  eat  their  fish 
raw  rather  than  go  a  stone's  cast  to  fetch  wood  and 
dress  it. 

The  colony  was  in  such  extremity  in  May,  16 10, 


i6o9-ioJ     THE   COLONY  WITHOUT  SMITH.  1 9$ 

that  it  would  have  been  extinct  in  ten  days  but  for 
the  arrival  of  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  Sir  George 
Somers  and  Capt.  Newport  from  the  Bermudas. 
These  gallant  gentlemen,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
souls,  had  been  wrecked  on  the  Bermudas  in  the 
Sea  Vetitiire  in  the  preceding  July.  The  terrors  of 
the  hurricane  which  dispersed  the  fleet,  and  this 
shipwreck,  were  much  dwelt  upon  by  the  writers  of 
the  time,  and  the  Bermudas  became  a  sort  of  en- 
chanted islands,  or  realms  of  the  imagination.  For 
three  nights,  and  three  days  that  were  as  black  as 
the  nights,  the  water-logged  Sea  Venture  was  scarcely 
kept  afloat  by  bailing.  We  have  a  vivid  picture  of 
the  stanch  Somers  sitting  upon  the  poop  of  the 
ship,  where  he  sat  three  days  and  three  nights  to- 
gether, without  much  meat  and  little  or  no  sleep, 
conning  the  ship  to  keep  her  as  upright  as  he  could, 
until  he  happily  descried  land.  The  ship  went 
ashore  and  was  wedged  into  the  rocks  so  fast  that  it 
held  together  till  all  were  got  ashore,  and  a  good 
part  of  the  goods  and  provisions,  and  the  tackling 
and  iron  of  the  ship  necessary  for  the  building  and 
furnishing  of  a  new  ship. 

This  good  fortune  and  the  subsequent  prosperous 
life  on  the  island  and  final  deliverance  was  due  to 
the  noble  Somers,  or  Sommers,  after  whom  the  Ber- 
mudas were  long  called  "  Sommers  Isles,"  which 
was  gradually  corrupted  into  "The  Summer  Isles." 
These  islands  of  Bermuda  had  ever  been  accounted 
an  enchanted  pile  of  rocks  and  a  desert  inhabita- 
tion for  devils,  which  the  navigator  and  mariner 
avoided  as  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  or  the  devil  him- 
self. But  this  shipwrecked  company  found  it  the 
most  delightful  country  in  the  world  ;  the  climate 
was    enchanting,    delicious    fruits    abounded,    the 


ig6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1609-10 

waters  swarmed  with  fish,  some  of  them  big  enough 
to  nearly  drag  the  fishers  into  the  sea,  while  whales 
could  be  heard  spouting  and  nosing  about  the  rocks 
at  night ;  birds  fat  and  tame  and  willing  to  be  eaten 
covered  all  the  bushes,  and  such  droves  of  wild  hogs 
covered  the  island  that  the  slaughter  of  them  for 
months  seemed  not  to  diminish  their  number.  The 
friendly  disposition  of  the  birds  seemed  most  to  im- 
press the  writer  of  the  "  True  Declaration  of  Vir- 
ginia." He  remembers  how  the  ravens  fed  Elias  in 
the  brook  Cedron  ;  "  so  God  provided  for  our  dis- 
consolate people  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  by  foules  ; 
but  with  an  admirable  differance  ;  unto  Elias  the 
ravens  brought  meat,  unto  our  men  the  foules 
brought  (themselves)  for  meate  :  for  when  they 
whistled,  or  made  any  strange  noyse,  the  foules 
would  come  and  sit  on  their  shoulders,  they  would 
suffer  themselves  to  be  taken  and  weighed  by  our 
men,  who  would  make  choice  of  the  fairest  and  fat- 
test and  let  file  the  leane  and  lightest,  an  accident 
[the  chronicler  exclaims],  I  take  it  [and  everybody 
will  take  it],  that  cannot  be  paralleled  by  any  Histo- 
ric, except  when  God  sent  abundance  of  Quayles  to 
feed  his  Israel  in  the  barren  wilderness." 

The  rescued  voyagers  built  themselves  comforta- 
ble houses  on  the  island,  and  dwelt  there  nine 
months  in  good  health  and  plentifully  fed.  Sun- 
day was  carefully  observed,  with  sermons  by  Mr. 
Buck,  the  chaplain,  an  Oxford  man,  who  was  assist- 
ed in  the  services  by  Stephen  Hopkins,  one  of  the 
Puritans  who  were  in  the  company.  A  marriage 
was  celebrated  between  Thomas  Powell,  the  cook 
of  Sir  George  Somers,  and  Elizabeth  Persons,  the 
servant  of  Mrs.  Horlow.  Two  children  were  also 
born,  a  boy  who  was  christened  Bermudas  and  a 


1609-10]     THE   COLONY  WITHOUT  SMITH.  19/ 

girl  Bermuda.  The  girl  was  the  child  of  Mr.  John 
Rolfe  and  wife,  the  Rolfe  who  was  shortly  afterward 
to  become  famous  by  another  marriage.  In  order 
that  nothing  should  be  wanting  to  the  ordinary 
course  of  a  civilized  community,  a  murder  was  com- 
mitted. In  the  company  were  two  Indians,  Ma- 
chumps  and  Namontack,  whose  acquaintance  we 
have  before  made,  returning  from  England,  whither 
they  had  been  sent  by  Capt.  Smith.  Falling  out 
about  something,  Machumps  slew  Namontack,  and 
having  made  a  hole  to  bury  him,  because  it  was  too 
short  he  cut  off  his  legs  and  laid  them  by  him.  This 
proceeding  Machumps  concealed  till  he  was  in 
Virginia, 

Somers  and  Gates  were  busy  building  two  cedar 
ships,  the  Delivej-er,  of  eighty  tons,  and  a  pinnace 
called  the  Patioice.  When  these  were  completed, 
the  whole  company,  except  two  scamps  who  re- 
mained behind  and  had  adventures  enough  for  a 
three-volume  novel,  embarked,  and  on  the  i6th  of 
May  sailed  for  Jamestown,  where  they  arrived  on 
the  23d  or  24th,  and  found  the  colony  in  the  pitiable 
condition  before  described.  A  few  famished  settlers 
watched  their  coming.  The  church  bell  was  rung 
in  the  shaky  edifice,  and  the  emaciated  colonists 
assembled  and  heard  the  "  zealous  and  sorrowful 
prayer"  of  Chaplain  Buck.  The  commission  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gates  was  read,  and  Mr.  Percy  retired  from 
the  governorship. 

The  town  was  empty  and  unfurnished,  and  seemed 
like  the  ruin  of  some  ancient  fortification  rather 
than  the  habitation  of  living  men.  The  palisades 
were  down;  the  ports  open;  the  gates  unhinged; 
the  church  ruined  and  unfrequented;  the  houses 
empty,  torn  to  pieces  or  burnt;  the  people  not  able 


198  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610 

to  step  into  the  woods  to  gather  fire-wood;  and  the 
Indians  killing  as  fast  without  as  famine  and  pesti- 
lence within.  William  Strachey  was  among  the 
new-comers,  and  this  is  the  story  that  he  dispatched 
as  Lord  Delaware's  report  to  England  in  July.  On 
taking  stock  of  provisions  there  was  found  only 
scant  rations  for  sixteen  days,  and  Gates  and  Somers 
determined  to  abandon  the  plantation,  and,  taking 
all  on  board  their  own  ships,  to  make  their  way  to 
Newfoundland,  in  the  hope  of  falling  in  with  Eng- 
lish vessels.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th  of  June  they 
got  on  board  and  dropped  down  the  James. 

Meantime  the  news  of  the  disasters  to  the  colony, 
and  the  supposed  loss  of  the  Sea  Venture^  had  created 
a  great  excitement  in  London,  and  a  panic  and  stop- 
page of  subscriptions  in  the  company.  Lord  Del- 
aware, a  man  of  the  highest  reputation  for  courage 
and  principle,  determined  to  go  himself,  as  Captain- 
General,  to  Virginia,  in  the  hope  of  saving  the  for- 
tunes of  the  colony.  With  three  ships  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  persons,  mostly  artificers,  he  em- 
barked on  the  ist  of  April,  1610,  and  reached  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  on  the  5th  of  June,  just  in  time  to 
meet  the  forlorn  company  of  Gates  and  Somers 
putting  out  to  sea. 

They  turned  back  and  ascended  to  Jamestown, 
when  landing  on  Sunday,  the  loth,  after  a  sermon 
by  Mr.  Buck,  the  commission  of  Lord  Delaware  was 
read,  and  Gates  turned  over  his  authority  to  the 
new  Governor.  He  swore  in  as  Council,  Sir  Thomas 
Gates,  Lieutenant-General;  Sir  George  Somers,  Ad- 
miral; Capt.  George  Percy;  Sir  Ferdinando  Wen- 
man,  Marshal;  Capt.  Christopher  Newport,  and 
William  Strachey,  Esq.,  Secretary  and  Recorder. 

On   the    19th   of  June   the  brave    old    sailor.  Sir 


i6io-ii]    THE   COLONY    WITHOUT  SMITH.  I99 

George  Somers,  volunteered  to  return  to  the  Ber- 
mudas in  his  pinnace  to  procure  hogs  and  other 
supplies  for  the  colony.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Capt.  Argall  in  the  ship  Discovery.  After  a  rough 
voyage  this  noble  old  knight  reached  the  Bermudas. 
But  his  strength  was  not  equal  to  the  memorable 
courage  of  his  mind.  At  a  place  called  Saint  George 
he  died,  and  his  men,  confounded  at  the  death  of 
him  who  was  the  life  of  them  all,  embalmed  his 
body  and  set  sail  for  England.  Capt.  Argall,  after 
parting  with  his  consort,  without  reaching  the  Ber- 
mudas, and  much  beating  about  the  coast,  was  com- 
pelled to  return  to  Jamestown. 

Capt.  Gates  was  sent  to  England  with  dispatches 
and  to  procure  more  settlers  and  more  supplies. 
Lord  Delaware  remained  with  the  colony  less  than 
a  year;  his  health  failing,  he  went  in  pursuit  of  it, 
in  March,  161 1,  to  the  West  Indies.  In  June  of  that 
year  Gates  sailed  again,  with  six  vessels,  three  hun- 
dred men,  one  hundred  cows,  besides  other  cattle, 
and  provisions  of  all  sorts.  With  him  went  his 
wife,  who  died  on  the  passage,  and  his  daughters. 
His  expedition  reached  the  James  in  August.  The 
colony  now  numbered  seven  hundred  persons.  Gates 
seated  himself  at  Hampton,  a  "delicate  and  neces- 
sary site  for  a  city." 

Percy  commanded  at  Jamestown,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Dale  went  up  the  river  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
Henrico. 

We  have  no  occasion  to  follow  further  the  for- 
tunes of  the  Virginia  colony,  except  to  relate  the 
story  of  Pocahontas  under  her  different  names  of 
Amonate,  Matoaka,  Mrs.  Rolfe,  and  Lady  Rebecca. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    STORY    OF    POCAHONTAS. 

THE  simple  story  of  the  life  of  Pocahontas  is 
sufficiently  romantic  without  the  embellish- 
ments which  have  been  wrought  on  it  either  by  the 
vanity  of  Capt.  Smith  or  the  natural  pride  of  the  de- 
scendants of  this  dusky  princess  who  have  been  en- 
nobled by  the  smallest  rivulet  of  her  red  blood. 

That  she  was  a  child  of  remarkable  intelligence, 
and  that  she  early  showed  a  tender  regard  for  the 
whites  and  rendered  them  willing  and  unwilling 
service,  is  the  concurrent  evidence  of  all  contem- 
porary testimony.  That  as  a  child  she  was  well- 
favored,  sprightly,  and  prepossessing  above  all  her 
copper-colored  companions,  we  can  believe,  and  that 
as  a  woman  her  manners  were  attractive.  If  the 
portrait  taken  of  her  in  London — the  best  engrav- 
ing of  which  is  by  Simon  de  Passe — in  1616,  when 
she  is  said  to  have  been  twenty-one  years  old,  does 
her  justice,  she  had  marked  Indian  features. 

The  first  mention  of  her  is  in  "  The  True  Rela- 
tion," written  by  Capt.  Smith  in  Virginia  in  1608. 
In  this  narrative,  as  our  readers  have  seen,  she  is 
not  referred  to  until  after  Smith's  return  from  the 
captivity  in  which  Powhatan  used  him  "  with  all 
the  kindness  he  could  devise."  Her  name  first  ap- 
pears, toward  the  close  of  the  relation,  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentence: 

.  "Powhatan  understanding  we  detained  certain  salvages, 
s^nt  his  daughter,  a  child  of  tenne  yeares  old,  which  not 


THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  201 

only  for  feature,  countenance,  and  proportion,  much  ey- 
ceedeth  any  of  the  rest  of  his  people,  but  for  wit  and 
spirit  the  only  nonpareil  of  his  country:  this  hee  sent  by 
his  most  trusty  messenger,  called  Rawhunt,  as  much  ex- 
ceeding in  deformitie  of  person,  but  of  a  subtill  wit  and 
crafty  understanding,  he  with  a  long  circumstance  told 
mee  how  well  Powhatan  loved  and  respected  mee,  and  in 
that  I  should  not  doubt  any  way  of  his  kindness,  he  had 
sent  his  child,  which  he  most  esteemed,  to  see  mee,  a 
Deere,  and  bread,  besides  for  a  present :  desiring  mee 
that  the  Boy  [Thomas  Savage,  the  boy  given  by  Newport 
to  Powhatan]  might  come  again,  which  he  loved  ex- 
ceedingly, his  little  Daughter  he  had  taught  this  lesson 
also :  not  taking  notice  at  all  of  the  Indians  that  had  been 
prisoners  three  dales,  till  that  morning  that  she  saw  their 
fathers  and  friends  come  quietly,  and  in  good  termes  to 
entreate  their  libertie. 

"  In  the  afternoon  they  [the  friends  of  the  prisoners] 
being  gone,  we  guarded  them  [the  prisoners]  as  before  to 
the  church,  and  after  prayer,  gave  them  to  Pocahuntas  the 
King's  Daughter,  in  regard  of  her  father's  kindness  in 
sending  her  :  after  having  well  fed  them,  as  all  the  time  of 
their  imprisonment,  we  gave  them  their  bows,  arrowes,  or 
what  else  they  had,  and  with  much  content,  sent  them 
packing :  Pocahuntas,  also  we  requited  with  such  trifles  as 
contented  her,  to  tel  that  we  had  used  the  Paspaheyans 
very  kindly  in  so  releasing  them." 

The  next  allusion  to  her  is  in  the  fourth  chapter 
of  the  narratives  which  are  appended  to  the  "  Map 
of  Vircrinia,"  etc.  This  was  sent  home  by  Smith, 
with  a  description  of  Virginia,  in  the  late  autumn 
of  1608.  It  was  published  at  Oxford  in  161 2,  from 
two  to  three  years  after  Smith's  return  to  England. 
The  appendix  contains  the  narratives  of  several 
of  Smith's  companions  in  Virginia,  edited  by  Dr. 
Symonds  and  overlooked  by  Smith.  In  one  of 
these  is  a  brief  reference  to  the  above-quoted  inci- 


^^ 


202  CAPTAIN-  JOHN  SMITH.  [1608-10 

dent.  This  Oxford  tract,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  repeat,  contains  no  reference  to  the  saving  of 
Smith's  life  by  Pocahontas  from  the  clubs  of  Pow- 
hatan. 

The  next  published  mention  of  Pocahontas,  in 
point  of  time,  is  in  Chapter  X.  and  the  last  of  the 
appendix  to  the  "  Map  of  Virginia,"  and  is  Smith's 
denial,  already  quoted,  of  his  intention  to  marry 
Pocahontas.  In  this  passage  he  speaks  of  her  as 
i"at  most  not  past  13  or  14  years  of  age."  If 
she  was  thirteen  or  fourteen  in  1609,  when  Smith 
^t  Virginia,  she  must  have  been  more  than  ten 
when  he  wrote  his  "  True  Relation,"  composed  in 
the  winter  of  1608,  which  in  all  probability  was 
carried  to  England  by  Capt.  Nelson,  who  left  James- 
town June  2. 

The  next  contemporary  authority  to  be  consulted 
in  regard  to  Pocahontas  is  William  Strachey,  w];icw 
as  we  have  seen,  went  with  the  expedition  of  Ga|^ 
and  Somers,  was  shipwrecked  on  the  Bermudas,  and 
reached  Jamestown  May  23  or  24,  16 10,  anfi  was 
made  Secretary  and  Recorder  of  the  colony  linder 
Lord  Delaware.  Of  the  origin  and  life  of  Strachey, 
who  was  a  person  of  importance  in  Virginia,  little 
is  known.  The  better  impression  is  that  he  was  the 
William  Strachey  of  Saffron  Walden,  who  was  mar- 
ried in  1588  and  was  living  in  1620,  and  that  it  was 
his  grandson  of  the  same  name  who  was  subse- 
quently connected  with  the  Virginia  colony.  He 
was,  judged  by  his  writings,  a  man  of  considerable 
education,  a  good  deal  of  a  pedant,  and  shared  the 
credulity  and  fondness  for  embellishment  of  the 
writers  of  his  time.  His  connection  with  Lord  Del- 
aware, and  his  part  in  framing  the  code  of  laws  in 
Virginia,  which  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 


l6o8-io]      THE  STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  203 

he  first  published  them,  show  that  he  was  a  trusted 
and  capable  man. 

William  Strachey  left  behind  him  a  manuscript 
entitled  "  The  Historie  of  Travaile  into  Virginia 
Britanica,  &c.,  gathered  and  observed  as  well  by 
those  who  went  first  thither,  as  collected  by  William 
Strachey,  gent.,  three  years  thither,  em.ployed  as 
Secretaire  of  State."  How  long  he  remained  in 
Virginia  is  uncertain,  but  it  could  not  have  been 
"three  years,"  though  he  may  have  been  continued 
Secretary  for  that  period,  for  he  was  in  London  in 
16 1 2,  in  which  year  he  published  there  the  laws  of 
Virginia  which  had  been  established  by  Sir  Thomas 
Gates  May  24,  16 10,  approved  by  Lord  Delaware 
June  10,  1610,  and  enlarged  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale 
June  22,  1611.* 

The  "  Travaile"  was  first  published  by  the  Hak- 

*This  code  of  laws,  with  its  penalty  of  whipping  and  death 
for  what  are  held  now  to  be  venial  offenses,  gives  it  a  high 
place  among  the  Black  Codes.     One  clause  will  suffice: 

"Every  man  and  woman  duly  twice  a  day  upon  the  first 
towling  of  the  Bell  shall  upon  the  working  dales  repaire  unto 
the  church,  to  hear  divine  service  upon  pain  of  losing  his  or  her 
allowance  for  the  first  omission,  for  the  second  to  be  whipt,  and 
for  the  third  to  be  condemned  to  the  Gallies  for  six  months. 
Likewise  no  man  or  woman  shall  dare  to  violate  the  Sabbath 
by  any  gaming,  publique  or  private,  abroad  or  at  home,  but 
duly  sanctifie  and  observe  the  same,  both  himselfe  and  his 
familie,  by  preparing  themselves  at  home  with  private  prayer, 
that  they  may  be  the  better  fitted  for  the  publique,  according  to 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  the  orders  of  our  church,  as 
also  every  man  and  woman  shall  repaire  in  the  morning  to  the 
divine  service,  and  sermons  preached  upon  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  in  the  afternoon  to  divine  service,  and  Catechism  upon 
paine  for  the  first  fault  to  lose  their  provision,  and  allowance 
for  the  whole  week  following,  for  the  second  to  lose  the  said 
allowance  and  also  to  be  whipt,  and  for  the  third  to  suffer 
death." 


204  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610-12 

luyt  Society  in  1849.  When  and  where  it  was  writ- 
ten, and  whether  it  was  all  composed  at  one  time, 
are  matters  much  in  dispute.  The  first  book,  descrip- 
tive of  Virginia  and  its  people,  is  complete;  the 
second  book,  a  narration  of  discoveries  in  America, 
is  unfinished.  Only  the  first  book  concerns  us. 
That  Strachey  made  notes  in  Virginia  may  be  as- 
sumed, but  the  book  was  no  doubt  written  after  his 
return  to  England. 

Was  it  written  before  or  after  the  publication  of 
Smith's  "  Map  and  Description"  at  Oxford  in  1612  ? 
The  question  is  important,  because  Smith's  "  De- 
scription" and  Strachey's  "  Travaile"  are  page  after 
page  literally  the  same.  One  was  taken  from  the 
other.  Commonly  at  that  time  manuscripts  seem 
to  have  been  passed  around  and  much  read  before 
they  were  published.  Purchas  acknowledges  that 
he  had  unpublished  manuscripts  of  Smith  when  he 
compiled  his  narrative.  Did  Smith  see  Strachey's 
manuscript  before  he  published  his  Oxford  tract,  or 
did  Strachey  enlarge  his  own  notes  from  Smith's 
description  ?  It  has  been  usually  assumed  that 
Strachey  cribbed  from  Smith  without  acknowledg- 
ment. If  it  were  a  question  to  be  settled  by  the 
internal  evidence  of  the  two  accounts,  I  should  in- 
cline to  think  that  Smith  condensed  his  description 
from  Strachey;  but  the  dates  incline  the  balance  in 
Smith's  favor. 

Strachey  in  his  "Travaile"  refers  sometimes  to 
Smith,  and  always  with  respect.  It  will  be  noted 
that  Smith's  "  Map"  was  engraved  and  published 
before  the  "  Description"  in  the  Oxford  tract.  Pur- 
chas had  it,  for  he  says,  in  writing  of  Virginia  for 
his  "Pilgrimage"  (which  was  published  m  1613): 
"  Concerning  the  latter  [Virginia],  Capt.  John  Smith, 


i6i(>-i2]       THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  20$ 

partly  by  word  of  mouth,  partly  by  his  mappe 
thereof  in  print,  and  more  fully  by  a  Manuscript 
which  he  courteously  communicated  to  mee,  hath 
acquainted  me  with  that  whereof  himselfe  with 
great  perill  and  paine,  had  been  the  discoverer." 
Strachey  in  his  "  Travaile"  alludes  to  it,  and  pays  a 
tribute  to  Smith  in  the  following:  "  Their  severall 
habitations  are  more  plainly  described  by  the  an- 
nexed mappe,  set  forth  by  Capt.  Smith,  of  whose 
paines  taken  herein  I  leave  to  the  censure  of  the 
reader  to  judge.  Sure  I  am  there  will  not  return 
from  thence  in  hast,  any  one  who  hath  been  more 
industrious,  or  who  hath  had  (Capt.  Geo.  Percie  ex- 
cepted) greater  experience  amongst  them,  however 
misconstruction  may  traduce  here  at  home,  where 
is  not  easily  seen  the  mixed  sufferances,  both  of 
body  and  mynd,  which  is  there  daylie,  and  with  no 
few  hazards  and  hearty  griefes  undergon." 

There  are  two  copies  of  the  Strachey  manuscript. 
The  one  used  by  the  Hakluyt  Society  is  dedicated 
to  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  with  the  title  of  "  Lord  High 
Chancellor,"  and  Bacon  had  not  that  title  conferred 
on  him  till  after  1618.  But  the  copy  among  the 
Ashmolean  manuscripts  at  Oxford  is  dedicated  to 
Sir  Allen  Apsley,  with  the  title  of  "  Purveyor  to  His 
Majestie's  Navie  Royall;"  and  as  Sir  Allen  was 
made  "Lieutenant  of  the  Tower"  in  1616,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  the  manuscript  must  have  been  written 
before  that  date,  since  the  author  would  not  have 
omitted  the  more  important  of  the  two  titles  in  his 
dedication. 

Strachey's  prefatory  letter  to  the  Council,  pre- 
fixed to  his  "Laws"  (1612),  is  dated  "From  my 
lodging  in  the  Black  Friars.  At  your  best  pleas- 
ures, either  to  return  unto  the  colony,  or  pray  for 


206  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610-12 

the  success  of  it  heere."  In  this  letter  he  speaks  of 
his  experience  in  the  Bermudas  and  Virginia:  "The 
full  storie  of  both  in  due  time  [I]  shall  consecrate 
unto  your  views Howbit  since  many  impedi- 
ments, as  yet  must  detaine  such  my  observations  in 
the  shadow  of  darknesse,  untill  I  shall  be  able  to 
deliver  them  perfect  unto  your  judgments,"  etc. 

This  is  not,  as  has  been  assumed,  a  statement  that 
the  observations  were  not  written  then,  only  that 
they  were  not  "  perfect;"  in  fact,  they  were  detained 
in  the  "shadow  of  darknesse"  till  the  year  1849. 
Our  own  inference  is,  from  all  the  circumstances, 
that  Strachey  began  his  manuscript  in  Virginia  or 
shortly  after  his  return,  and  added  to  it  and  cor- 
rected it  from  time  to  time  up  to  1616, 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  consider  Strachey's 
allusions  to  Pocahontas.  The  first  occurs  in  his 
description  of  the  apparel  of  Indian  women: 

"The  better  sort  of  women  cover  themselves  (for  the 
most  part)  all  over  with  skin  mantells,  finely  drest,  shag- 
ged and  fringed  at  the  skyrt,  carved  and  coloured  with 
some  pretty  work,  or  the  proportion  of  beasts,  fowle,  tor- 
tayses,  or  other  such  like  imagry,  as  shall  best  please  or 
expresse  the  fancy  of  the  wearer;  their  younger  women 
goe  not  shadowed  amongst  their  owne  companie,  until 
they  be  nigh  eleaven  or  twelve  returnes  of  the  leafe  old 
(for  soe  they  accompt  and  bring  about  the  yeare,  calling 
the  fall  of  the  leaf  tagnitock) ;  nor  are  they  much  ashamed 
thereof,  and  therefore  would  the  before  remembered  Poca- 
hontas, a  well  featured,  but  wanton  yong  girle,  Powha- 
tan's daughter,  sometymes  resorting  to  our  fort,  of  the 
age  then  of  eleven  or  twelve  yeares,  get  the  boyes  forth 
with  her  into  the  markett  place,  and  make  them  wheele, 
falling  on  their  hands,  turning  up  their  heeles  upwards, 
whome  she  would  followe  and  wheele  so  herself,  naked  as 
she  was,  all  the  fort  over ;  but  being  once  twelve  yeares, 


I6IO-I2]       THE   STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  207 

they  put  on  a  kind  of  semecinctum  lethern  apron  (as  do  our 
artificers  or  handycrafts  men)  before  their  bellies,  and  are 
very  shamefac't  to  be  scene  bare.  We  have  scene  some  use 
mantells  made  both  of  Turkey  feathers,  and  other  fowle, 
so  prettily  wrought  and  woven  with  threeds,  that  nothing 
could  be  discerned  but  the  feathers,  which  were  exceed- 
ingly warme  and  very  handsome." 

i 

Strachey  did  not  see  Pocahontas.  She  did  not 
resort  to  the  camp  after  the  departure  of  Smith  in  \ 
September,  1609,  until  she  was  kidnapped  by  Gov. 
Dale  in  April,  16 13.  He  repeats  what  he  heard  of 
her.  The  time  mentioned  by  him  of  her  resorting 
to  the  fort,  "  of  the  age  then  of  eleven  or  twelve 
yeares,"  must  have  been  the  time  referred  to  by 
Smith  when  he  might  have  married  her,  namely, 
in  1608-9,  when  he  calls  her  "not  past  13  or  14 
years  of  age."  The  description  of  her  as  a  "  yong 
girle"  tumbling  about  the  fort,  ''  naked  as  she  was," 
would  seem  to  preclude  the  idea  that  she  was  mar- 
ried at  that  time. 

The  use  of  the  word  "  wanton"  is  not  necessarily 
disparaging,  for  "wanton"  in  that  age  was  fre- 
quently synonymous  with  "playful"  and  "sport- 
ive;" but  it  is  singular  that  she  should  be  spoken  of 
as  "well  featured,  but  wanton."  Strachey,  however, 
gives  in  another  place  what  is  no  doubt  the  real  sig- 
nificance of  the  Indian  name  "Pocahontas."  He 
says: 

"  Both  men,  women,  and  children  have  their  severall 
names;  at  first  according  to  the  severall  humor  of  their 
parents ;  and  for  the  men  children,  at  first,  when  they  are 
young,  their  mothers  give  them  a  name,  calling  them  by 
some  affectionate  title,  or  perhaps  observing  their  prom- 
ising inclination  give  it  accordingly ;  and  so  the  great  King 
Powhatan  called  a  young  daughter  of  his,  whom  he  loved 


208  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [1610-12 

well,  Pocahontas,  which  may  signify  a  little  wanton  ;  how- 
beyt  she  was  rightly  called  Amonata  at  more  ripe  years." 

The  Indian  girls  married  very  young.  The  polyg- 
amous Powhatan  had  a  large  number  of  wives,  but 
of  all  his  women,  his  favorites  were  a  dozen  "  for 
the  most  part  very  young  women,"  the  names 
of  whom  Strachey  obtained  from  one  Kemps,  an 
Indian  a  good  deal  about  camp,  whom  Smith 
certifies  was  a  great  villain.  Strachey  gives  a  list 
of  the  names  of  twelve  of  them,  at  the  head  of  which 
is  Winganuske.  This  list  was  no  doubt  written 
down  by  the  author  in  Virginia,  and  it  is  followed 
by  a  sentence,  quoted  below,  giving  also  the  num- 
ber of  Powhatan's  children.  The  "  great  darling" 
in  this  list  was  Winganuske,  a  sister  of  Machumps, 
who,  according  to  Smith,  murdered  his  comrade  in 
the  Bermudas.     Strachey  writes: 

•'  He  [Powhatan]  was  reported  by  the  said  Kemps,  as 
also  by  the  Indian  Machumps,  who  was  sometyme  in  Eng- 
land, and  comes  to  and  fro  amongst  us  as  he  dares,  and  as 
Powhatan  gives  him  leave,  for  it  is  not  otherwise  safe  for 
him,  no  more  than  it  was  for  one  Amarice,  who  had  his 
braynes  knockt  out  for  selling  but  a  baskett  of  corne,  and 
lying  in  the  English  fort  two  or  three  days  without  Pow- 
hatan's leave ;  I  say  they  often  reported  unto  us  that 
Powhatan  had  then  lyving  twenty  sonnes  and  ten  daugh- 
ters, besyde  a  young  one  by  Winganuske,  Machumps  his 
sister,  and  a  great  darling  of  the  King's ;  and  besides, 
younge  Pocohunta,  a  daughter  of  his,  using  sometyme  to 
our  fort  in  tymes  past,  nowe  married  to  a  private  Captaine, 
called  Kocoum,  some  two  years  since." 

This  passage  is  a  great  puzzle.  Does  Strachey 
intend  to  say  that  Pocahontas  was  married  to  an  In- 
dian named  Kocoum?  She  might  have  been  during 
the  time  after  Smith's  departure  in  1609,  and  her 


l6io-i2]       THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  209 

kidnapping  in  1613,  when  she  was  of  marriageable 
age.  We  shall  see  hereafter  that  Powhatan,  in  16 14, 
said  he  had  sold  another  favorite  daughter  of  his, 
whom  Sir  Thomas  Dale  desired,  and  who  was  not 
twelve  years  of  age,  to  be  wife  to  a  great  chief. 
The  term  "private  Captain"  might  perhaps  be  ap- 
plied to  an  Indian  chief.  Smith,  in  his  "  General 
Historie,"  says  the  Indians  have  "but  few  occasions 
to  use  any  officers  more  than  one  commander,  which 
commonly  they  call  Werowance^  or  Caucorouse ,  which 
is  Captaine."  It  is  probably  not  possible,  with  the 
best  intentions,  to  twist  Kocoum  into  Caucorouse, 
or  to  suppose  that  Strachey  intended  to  say  that  a 
private  captain  was  called  in  Indian  a  Kocoum. 
Werowance  and  Caucorouse  are  not  synonymous 
terms.  Werowance  means  "chief,"  and  Caucorouse 
means  "talker"  or  "orator,"  and  is  the  original  of 
our  word  "caucus." 

Either  Strachey  was  uninformed,  or  Pocahontas 
was  married  to  an  Indian — a  not  violent  presump- 
tion considering  her  age  and  the  fact  that  war  be- 
tween Powhatan  and  the  whites  for  some  time  had 
cut  off  intercourse  between  them — or  Strachey  re- 
ferred to  her  marriage  with  Rolfe,  whom  he  calls 
by  mistake  Kocoum.  If  this  is  to  be  accepted,  then 
this  paragraph  must  have  been  written  in  England 
in  16 16,  and  have  referred  to  the  marriage  to  Rolfe 
"some  two  years  since,"  in  1614. 

That  Pocahontas  was  a  gentle-hearted  and  pleas- 
ing girl,  and,  through  her  acquaintance  with  Smith, 
friendly  to  the  whites,  there  is  no  doubt ;  that  she 
was  not  different  in  her  habits  and  mode  of  life 
from  other  Indian  girls,  before  the  time  of  her  kid- 
napping, there  is  every  reason  to  suppose.  It  was 
the  English  who  magnified  the  imperialism  of  her 


210  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [1610-13 

father,  and  exaggerated  her  own  station  as  Princess. 
She  certainly  put  on  no  airs  of  royalty  when  she 
was  "cart-wheeling"  about  the  fort.  Nor  does  this 
detract  anything  from  the  native  dignity  of  the 
mature,  and  converted,  and  partially  civilized 
woman. 

We  should  expect  there  would  be  the  discrepan- 
cies which  have  been  noticed  in  the  estimates  of  her 
age.  Powhatan  is  not  said  to  have  kept  a  private 
secretary  to  register  births  in  his  family.  If  Poca- 
hontas gave  her  age  correctly,  as  it  appears  upon 
/"her  London  portrait  in  1616,  aged  twenty-one,  she 
must  have  been  eighteen  years  of  age  when  she  was 
captured  in  1613.  This  would  make  her  about 
twelve  at  the  time  of  Smith's  captivity  in  1607-8. 
,  1  There  is  certainly  room  for  difference  of  opinion  as 
\^to  whether  so  precocious  a  woman,  as  her  intelli- 
gent apprehension  of  affairs  shows  her  to  have  been, 
should  have  remained  unmarried  till  the  age  of 
eighteen.  In  marrying  at  least  as  early  as  that  she 
would  have  followed  the  custom  of  her  tribe.  It  is 
possible  that  her  intercourse  with  the  whites  had 
raised  her  above  such  an  alliance  as  would  be 
offered  her  at  the  court  of  Werowocomoco. 

We  are  without  any  record  of  the  life  of  Poca- 
hontas for  some  years.  The  occasional  mentions  of 
her  name  in  the  "  General  Historic  "  are  so  evident- 
>  ly  interpolated  at  a  late  date,  that  they  do  not  aid  us. 
When  and  where  she  took  the  name  of  Matoaka, 
which  appears  upon  her  London  portrait,  we  are 
not  told,  nor  when  she  was  called  Amonata,  as 
Strachey  says  she  was  "at  more  ripe  yeares."  How 
she  was  occupied  from  the  departure  of  Smith  to 
her  abduction,  we  can  only  guess.  To  follow  her 
authentic  history  we  must  take  up  the  account  of 


16IO-I3]       THE    STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  211 

Capt.  Argall  and  of  Ralph  Hamor,  Jr.,  secretary  of 
the  colony  under  Gov.  Dale. 

Capt.  Argall,  who  seems  to  have  been  as  bold  as 
he  was  unscrupulous  in  the  execution  of  any  plan 
intrusted  to  him,  arrived  in  Virginia  in  September, 
1612,  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1613  he  was  sent  on 
an  expedition  up  the  Patowomek  to  trade  for  corn 
and  to  effect  a  capture  that  would  bring  Powhatan 
to  terms.  The  Emperor,  from  being  a  friend,  had 
become  the  most  implacable  enemy  of  the  English. 
Capt.  Argall  says  :  "  I  was  told  by  certain  Indians, 
my  friends,  that  the  great  Powhatan's  daughter  Po- 
kahuntis  was  with  the  great  King  Potowomek, 
whither  I  presently  repaired,  resolved  to  possess 
myself  of  her  by  any  stratagem  that  I  could  use,  for 
the  ransoming  of  so  many  Englishmen  as  were 
prisoners  with  Powhatan,  as  also  to  get  such  armes 
and  tooles  as  he  and  other  Indians  had  got  by  mur- 
ther  and  stealing  some  others  of  our  nation,  with 
some  quantity  of  corn  for  the  colonies  relief." 

By  the  aid  of  Japazeus,  King  of  Pasptancy,  an  old 
acquaintance  and  friend  of  Argall's,  and  the  conniv- 
ance of  the  King  of  Potowomek,  Pocahontas  was 
enticed  on  board  Argall's  ship  and  secured.  Word 
was  sent  to  Powhatan  of  the  capture  and  the  terms 
on  which  his  daughter  would  be  released;  namely, 
the  return  of  the  white  men  he  held  in  slavery,  the 
tools  and  arms  he  had  gotten  and  stolen,  and  a  great 
quantity  of  corn.  Powhatan,  ''  much  grieved,"  re- 
plied that  if  Argall  would  use  his  daughter  well, 
and  bring  the  ship  into  his  river  and  release  her, 
he  would  accede  to  all  his  demands.  Therefore,  on 
the  13th  of  April,  Argall  repaired  to  Gov.  Gates  at 
Jamestown,  and  delivered  his  prisoner,  and  a  few 
days  after  the  King  sent  home  some  of  the  white 


212  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1613 

captives,  three  pieces,  one  broad-axe,  a  long  whip- 
saw,  and  a  canoe  of  corn.  Pocahontas,  however, 
was  kept  at  Jamestown. 

Why  Pocahontas  had  left  Werowocomoco  and 
gone  to  stay  with  Patowomek  we  can  only  conjec- 
ture. It  is  possible  that  Powhatan  suspected  her 
friendliness  to  the  whites,  and  was  weary  of  her 
importunity,  and  it  may  be  that  she  wanted  to  es- 
cape the  sight  of  continual  fighting,  ambushes,  and 
murders.  More  likely  she  was  only  making  a  com- 
mon friendly  visit,  though  Hamor  says  she  went  to 
trade  at  an  Indian  fair. 

The  story  of  her  capture  is  enlarged  and  more 
minutely  related  by  Ralph  Hamor,  Jr.,  who  was  one 
of  the  colony  shipwrecked  on  the  Bermudas  in 
1609,  and  returned  to  England  in  1614,  where  he 
published  (London,  1615)  ''A  True  Discourse  of 
Virginia,  and  the  Success  of  the  Affairs  there  till  the 
i8th  of  June,  1614."  Hamor  was  the  son  of  a  mer- 
chant tailor  in  London  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  company.     Hamor  writes  : 

"  It  chanced  Powhatan's  delight  and  darling,  his  daugh- 
ter Pocahontas  (whose  fame  has  even  been  spread  in 
England  by  the  title  of  No7ipa7-eUa  of  Vz'rgzm'a)  in  her 
princely  progresse  if  I  may  so  terme  it,  tooke  some  pleas- 
ure (in  the  absence  of  Captaine  Argall)  to  be  among  her 
friends  at  Pataomecke  (as  it  seemeth  by  the  relation  I 
had),  implored  thither  as  shopkeeper  to  a  Fare,  to  ex- 
change some  of  her  father's  commodities  for  theirs,  where 
residing  some  three  months  or  longer,  it  fortuned  upon 
occasion  either  of  promise  or  profit,  Captaine  Argall  to 
arrive  there,  whom  Pocahuntas,  desirous  to  renew  her 
familiaritie  with  the  English,  and  delighting  to  see  them 
as  unknown,  fearefull  perhaps  to  be  surprised,  would 
gladly  visit  as  she  did,  of  whom  no  sooner  had  Captaine 
Argall  intelligence,  but  he  delt  with  an  old  friend  lapazeus, 


i6i3]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  213 

liow  and  by  what  meanes  he  might  procure  her  caption, 
assuring  him  that  now  or  never,  was  the  time  to  pleasure 
him,  if  he  intended  indeede  that  love  which  he  had  made 
profession  of,  that  in  ransome  of  hir  he  might  redeeme 
some  of  our  English  men  and  armes,  now  in  the  posses- 
sion of  her  father,  promising  to  use  her  withall  faire  and 
gentle  entreaty;  lapazeus  well  assured  that  his  brother,  as 
he  promised,  would  use  her  courteously,  promised  his  best 
endeavors  and  service  to  accomplish  his  desire,  and  thus 
wrought  it,  making  his  wife  an  instrument  (which  sex 
have  ever  been  most  powerful  in  beguiling  inticements) 
to  effect  his  plot  which  hee  had  thus  laid,  he  agreed  that 
himself,  his  wife  and  Pocahuntas,  would  accompanie  his 
brother  to  the  water  side,  whither  come,  his  wife  should 
faine  a  great  and  longing  desire  to  goe  aboorde,  and  see 
the  shippe,  which  being  there  three  or  four  times  before 
she  had  never  scene,  and  should  be  earnest  with  her  hus- 
band to  permit  her :  he  seemed  angry  with  her,  making  as 
he  pretended  so  unnecessary  request,  especially  being 
without  the  company  of  women,  which  denial  she  taking 
unkindly,  must  faine  to  weepe  (as  who  knows  not  that 
women  can  command  teares)  whereupon  her  husband  seem- 
ing to  pitty  those  counterfeit  teares,  gave  her  leave  to  goe 
aboord,  so  that  it  would  pleese  Pocahuntas  to  accompany 
her;  now  was  the  greatest  labour  to  win  her,  guilty  perhaps 
of  her  father's  wrongs,  though  not  knowne  as  she  supposed, 
to  goe  with  her,  yet  by  her  earnest  persuasions,  she  as- 
sented :  so  forthwith  aboord  they  went,  the  best  cheere 
that  could  be  made  was  seasonably  provided,  to  supper 
they  went,  merry  on  all  hands,  especially  lapazeus  and  his 
wife,  who  to  expres  their  joy  would  ere  be  treading  upon 
Captaine  Argall's  foot,  as  who  should  say  tis  don,  she  is 
your  own.  Supper  ended  Pocahuntas  was  lodged  Tn  the 
gunner's  roome,  but  lapazeus  and  his  wife  desired  to  have 
some  conference  with  their  brother,  which  was  onely  to 
acquaint  him  by  what  stratagem  they  had  betraied  his 
prisoner  as  I  have  already  related  :  after  which  discourse 
to  sleepe  they  went,  Pocahuntas  nothing  mistrusting  this 
policy,  who  nevertheless  being  most  possessed  with  feere, 


214  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1613 

and  desire  of  returne,  was  first  up,  and  hastened  lapazeus 
to  be  gon.  Capt.  Argall  having  secretly  well  rewarded 
him,  with  a  small  Copper  kittle,  and  some  other  les  valua- 
ble toies  so  highly  by  him  esteemed,  that  doubtlesse  he 
would  have  betraied  his  own  father  for  them,  permitted 
both  him  and  his  wife  to  returne,  but  told  him  that  for 
divers  considerations,  as  for  that  his  father  had  then  eigh 
[8J  of  our  Engiishe  men,  many  swords,  peeces,  and  other 
tooles,  which  he  had  at  severall  times  by  trecherous  mur- 
dering our  men,  taken  from  them  which  though  of  no  use 
to  him,  he  would  not  redeliver,  he  w^ould  reserve  Poca- 
huntas,  whereat  she  began  to  be  exceeding  pensive,  and 
discontented,  yet  ignorant  of  the  dealing  of  Japazeus  who 
in  outward  appearance  was  no  les  discontented  that  he 
should  be  the  meanes  of  her  captivity,  much  adoe  there 
was  to  pursuade  her  to  be  patient,  which  with  extraordi- 
nary curteous  usage,  by  little  and  little  was  wrought  in 
her,  and  so  to  Jamestowne  she  was  brought." 

Smith,  who  condenses  this  account  in  his  "  Gen- 
eral Historie,"  expresses  his  contempt  of  this  Indian 
treachery  by  saying:  "  The  old  Jew  and  his  wife  be- 
gan to  howle  and  crie  as  fast  as  Pocahuntas."  It 
will  be  noted  that  the  account  of  the  visit  (appar- 
ently alone)  of  Pocahontas  and  her  capture  is  strong 
evidence  that  she  was  not  at  this  time  married  to 
*'  Kocoum"  or  anybody  else. 

Word  was  dispatched  to  Powhatan  of  his  daugh- 
ter's duress,  with  a  demand  made  for  the  restitution 
of  goods;  but  although  this  savage  is  represented  as 
dearly  loving  Pocahontas,  his  "  delight  and  darling," 
it  was,  according  to  Hamor,  three  months  before 
they  heard  anything  from  him.  His  anxiety  about 
his  daughter  could  not  have  been  intense.  He  re- 
tained a  part  of  his  plunder,  and  a  message  was 
sent  to  him  that  Pocahontas  would  be  kept  till  he 
restored  all  the  arms. 


i6i4]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  215 

This  answer  pleased  Powhatan  so  little  that  they 
heard  nothing  from  him  till  the  following  March. 
Then  Sir  Thomas  Dale  and  Capt.  Argall,  with  sev- 
eral vessels  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  went  up 
to  Powhatan's  chief  seat,  taking  his  daughter  with 
them,  offering  the  Indians  a  chance  to  fight  for  her 
or  to  take  her  in  peace  on  surrender  of  the  stolen 
goods.  The  Indians  received  this  with  bravado  and 
flights  of  arrows,  reminding  them  of  the  fate  of 
Capt.  Ratcliffe.  The  whites  landed,  killed  some 
Indians,  burnt  forty  houses,  pillaged  the  village,  and 
went  on  up  the  river  and  came  to  anchor  in  front  of 
Matchcot,  the  Emperor's  chief  town.  Here  were 
assembled  four  hundred  armed  men,  with  bows  and 
arrows,  who  dared  them  to  come  ashore.  Ashore  they 
went,  and  a  palaver  was  held.  The  Indians  wanted 
a  day  to  consult  their  King,  after  which  they  would 
fight,  if  nothing  but  blood  would  satisfy  the  whites. 

Two  of  Powhatan's  sons  who  were  present  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  see  their  sister,  who  had  been 
taken  on  shore.  When  they  had  sight  of  her,  and 
saw  how  well  she  was  cared  for,  they  greatly  re- 
joiced, and  promised  to  persuade  their  father  to 
redeem  her  and  conclude  a  lasting  peace.  The  two 
brothers  were  taken  on  board  ship,  and  Master  John 
Rolfe  and  Master  Sparkes  were  sent  to  negotiate 
with  the  King.  Powhatan  did  not  show  himself, 
but  his  brother  Apachamo,  his  successor,  promised 
to  use  his  best  efforts  to  bring  about  a  peace,  and 
the  expedition  returned  to  Jamestown. 

"Long  before  this  time,"  Hamor  relates,  "a  gen- 
tleman of  approved  behaviour  and  honest  carriage. 
Master  John  Rolfe,  had  been  in  love  with  Pocahun- 
tas  and  she  with  him,  which  thing  at  the  instant  that 
we  were  in  parlee  with  them,  myselfe  made  known 


2l6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

to  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  by  a  letter  from  him  [Rolfe] 
whereby  he  entreated  his  advice  and  furtherance  to 
his  love,  if  so  it  seemed  fit  to  him  for  the  good  of 
the  Plantation,  and  Pocahuntas  herself  acquainted 
her  brethren  therewith."  Gov.  Dale  approved  this, 
and  consequently  was  willing  to  retire  without  other 
conditions.  ^'  The  bruite  of  this  pretended  mariage 
[Hamor  continues]  came  soon  to  Powhatan's  knowl- 
edge, a  thing  acceptable  to  him,  as  appeared  by  his 
sudden  consent  thereunto,  who  some  ten  dales  after 
sent  an  old  uncle  of  hirs,  named  Opachisco,  to  give 
her  as  his  deputy  in  the  church,  and  two  of  his 
sonnes  to  see  the  mariage  solemnized  which  was 
accordingly  done  about  the  fifth  of  April  [16 14],  and 
ever  since  we  have  had  friendly  commerce  and  trade, 
not  only  with  Powhatan  himself,  but  also  with  his 
subjects  round  about  us;  so  as  now  I  see  no  reason 
why  the  collonie  should  not  thrive  a  pace." 

This  marriage  was  justly  celebrated  as  the  means 
and  beginning  of  a  firm  peace  which  long  con- 
tinued, so  that  Pocahontas  was  again  entitled  to 
the  grateful  remembrance  of  the  Virginia  settlers. 
Already,  in  16 12,  a  plan  had  been  mooted  in  Vir- 
ginia of  marrying  the  English  with  the  natives,  and 
of  obtaining  the  recognition  of  Powhatan  and  those 
allied  to  him  as  members  of  a  fifth  kingdom,  with 
certain  privileges.  Cunega,  the  Spanish  ambassa- 
dor at  London,  on  September  22,  1612,  writes:  "Al- 
though some  suppose  the  plantation  to  decrease,  he 
is  credibly  informed  that  there  is  a  determination  to 
marry  some  of  the  people  that  go  over  to  Virginia; 
forty  or  fifty  are  already  so  married,  and  English 
women  intermingle  and  are  received  kindly  by  the 
natives.  A  zealous  minister  hath  been  wounded  for 
reprehending  it." 


i6i4]  THE   STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  2\'J 

Mr.  John  Rolfe  was  a  man  of  industry,  and  ap- 
parently devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  colony.  He 
probably  brought  with  him  in  1610  his  wife,  who 
gave  birth  to  his  daughter  Bermuda,  born  on  the 
Somers  Islands  at  the  time  of  the  shipwreck.  We 
find  no  notice  of  her  death.  Hamor  gives  him  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  in  the  colony  to  try,  in 
1612,  the  planting  and  raising  of  tobacco.  "No 
man  [he  adds]  hath  labored  to  his  power,  by  good 
example  there  and  worthy  encouragement  into  Eng- 
land by  his  letters,  than  he  hath  done,  witness  his 
marriage  with  Powhatan's  daughter,  one  of  rude 
education,  manners  barbarous  and  cursed  genera- 
tion, meerely  for  the  good  and  honor  of  the  planta- 
tion: and  least  any  man  should  conceive  that  some 
sinister  respects  allured  him  hereunto,  I  have  made 
bold,  contrary  to  his  knowledge,  in  the  end  of  my 
treatise  to  insert  the  true  coppie  of  his  letter  written 
to  Sir  Thomas  Dale." 

The  letter  is  a  long,  labored,  and  curious  docu- 
ment, and  comes  nearer  to  a  theological  treatise 
than  any  love-letter  we  have  on  record.  It  reeks 
with  unction.  Why  Rolfe  did  not  speak  to  Dale, 
whom  he  saw  every  day,  instead  of  inflicting  upon 
him  this  painful  document,  in  which  the  flutterings 
of  a  too  susceptible  widower's  heart  are  hidden 
under  a  great  resolve  of  self-sacrifice,  is  not  plain. 

The  letter  protests  in  a  tedious  preamble  that  the 
writer  is  moved  entirely  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
continues: 

"  Let  therefore  this  my  well  advised  protestation,  which 
here  I  make  between  God  and  my  own  conscience,  be  a 
sufficient  witness,  at  the  dreadful  day  of  judgment  (when 
the  secrets  of  all  men's  hearts  shall  be  opened)  to  con- 
demne  me  herein,  if  my  chiefest  interest  and  purpose  be 


2 1 8  CAP TA IN  JOHN  SMI TH.  [1614 

not  to  strive  with  all  my  power  of  body  and  mind,  in  the 
undertaking  of  so  weighty  a  matter,  no  way  led  (so  far 
forth  as  man's  weakness  may  permit)  with  the  unbridled 
desire  of  carnall  affection  ;  but  for  the  good  of  this  planta- 
tion, for  the  honour  of  our  countrie,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
for  my  owne  salvation,  and  for  the  converting  to  the  true 
knowledge  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  an  unbelieving  crea- 
ture, namely  Pokahuntas.  To  whom  my  heartie  and  best 
thoughts  are,  and  have  a  long  time  bin  so  entangled,  and 
inthralled  in  so  intricate  a  laborinth,  that  I  was  even 
awearied  to  unwinde  myself  thereout." 

Master  Rolfe  goes  on  to  describe  the  mighty  war 
in  his  meditations  on  this  subject,  in  which  he  had 
set  before  his  eyes  the  frailty  of  mankind  and  his 
proneness  to  evil  and  wicked  thoughts.  He  is  aware 
of  God's  displeasure  against  the  sons  of  Levi  and 
Israel  for  marrying  strange  wives,  and  this  has 
caused  him  to  look  about  warily  and  with  good 
circumspection  *'  into  the  grounds  and  principall 
agitations  which  should  thus  provoke  me  to  be  in 
love  with  one,  whose  education  hath  bin  rude,  her 
manners  barbarous,  her  generation  accursed,  and  so 
discrepant  in  all  nurtriture  from  myselfe,  that  often- 
times with  feare  and  trembling,  I  have  ended  my 
private  controversie  with  this:  surely  these  are 
wicked  instigations,  fetched  by  him  who  seeketh 
and  delighteth  in  man's  distruction;  and  so  with 
fervent  prayers  to  be  ever  preserved  from  such  dia- 
bolical assaults  (as  I  looke  those  to  be)  I  have  taken 
some  rest." 

The  good  man  was  desperately  in  love  and  want- 
ed to  marry  the  Indian,  and  consequently  he  got  no 
peace;  and  still  being  tormented  with  her  im.age, 
whether  she  was  absent  or  present,  he  set  out  to 
produce  an  ingenious  reason  (to  show  the  world) 
for  marrying  her.     He  continues; 


I6i4]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  219 

"Thus  when  I  thought  I  had  obtained  my  peace  and 
quietnesse,  beholde  another,  but  more  gracious  tentation 
hath  made  breaches  into  my  hoHest  and  strongest  medita- 
tions ;  with  which  I  have  been  put  to  a  new  triall,  in  a 
straighter  manner  than  the  former ;  for  besides  the  weary 
passions  and  sufferings  which  I  have  dailey,  hourely,  yea 
and  in  my  sleepe  indured,  even  awaking  me  to  astonish- 
ment, taxing  me  with  remissnesse,  and  carelessnesse,  re- 
fusing and  neglecting  to  perform  the  duteie  of  a  good 
Christian,  pulling  me  by  the  eare,  and  crying :  Why  dost 
thou  not  indeavor  to  make  her  a  Christian  ?  And  these 
have  happened  to  my  greater  wonder,  even  when  she 
hath  been  furthest  seperated  from  me,  which  in  common 
reason  (were  it  not  an  undoubted  work  of  God)  might 
breede  forgetfulnesse  of  a  far  more  worthie  creature." 

He  accurately  describes  the  symptoms  and  ap- 
pears to  understand  the  remedy,  but  he  is  after  a 
large-sized  motive: 

"  Besides,  I  say  the  holy  Spirit  of  God  hath  often  de- 
manded of  me,  why  I  was  created  ?  If  not  for  transitory 
pleasures  and  worldly  vanities,  but  to  labour  in  the  Lord's 
vineyard,  there  to  sow  and  plant,  to  nourish  and  increase 
the  fruites  thereof,  daily  adding  with  the  good  husband  in 
the  gospell,  somewhat  to  the  tallent,  that  in  the  ends  the 
fruites  may  be  reaped,  to  the  comfort  of  the  labourer  in 

this  life,  and  his  salvation  in  the  world  to  come 

Likewise,  adding  hereunto  her  great  appearance  of  love  to 
me,  her  desire  to  be  taught  and  instructed  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  her  capablenesse  of  understanding,  her  apt- 
ness and  willingness  to  receive  anie  good  impression,  and 
also  the  spirituall,  besides  her  owne  incitements  stirring 
me  up  hereunto." 

The  "  incitements"  gave  him  courage,  so  that  he 
exclaims:  "  Shall  I  be  of  so  untoward  a  disposition, 
as  to  refuse  to  lead  the  blind  into  the  right  way  ? 
Shall  I  be  so  unnatural,  as  not  to  give  bread  to  the 
hungrie,  or  uncharitable,  as  not  to  cover  the  naked  .''" 


220  CAPTAIX  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

It  wasn't  to  be  thought  of,  such  wickedness;  and 
so  Master  Rolfe  screwed  up  his  courage  to  marry 
the  glorious  Princess,  from  whom  thousands  of 
people  were  afterwards  so  anxious  to  be  descended. 
But  he  made  the  sacrifice  for  the  glory  of  the 
country,  the  benefit  of  the  plantation,  and  the  con- 
version of  the  unregenerate,  and  other  and  lower 
motive  he  vigorously  repels:  "Now,  if  the  vulgar 
sort,  who  square  all  men's  actions  by  the  base  rule 
of  their  own  filthinesse,  shall  tax  or  taunt  mee  in 
this  my  godly  labour:  let  them  know  it  is  not  hun- 
gry appetite,  to  gorge  myselfe  with  incontinency; 
sure  (if  I  would  and  were  so  sensually  inclined)  I 
might  satisfy  such  desire,  though  not  without  a 
seared  conscience,  yet  with  Christians  more  pleas- 
ing to  the  eie,  and  less  fearefull  in  the  offense 
unlawfully  committed.  Nor  am  I  in  so  desperate 
an  estate,  that  I  regard  not  what  becometh  of  me; 
nor  am  I  out  of  hope  but  one  day  to  see  my  country, 
nor  so  void  of  friends,  nor  mean  in  birth,  but  there  to 

obtain  a  mach  to  my  great  content But  shall 

it  please  God  thus  to  dispose  of  me  (which  I 
earnestly  desire  to  fulfill  my  ends  before  set  down) 
I  will  heartily  accept  of  it  as  a  godly  taxe  appointed 
me,  and  I  will  never  cease  (God  assisting  me)  untill 
I  have  accomplished,  and  brought  to  perfection  so 
holy  a  worke,  in  which  I  will  daily  pray  God  to 
bless  me,  to  mine  and  her  eternal  happiness." 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  if  sanctimonious  John  wrote 
any  love-letters  to  Amonata  they  had  less  cant  in 
them  than  this.  But  it  was  pleasing  to  Sir  Thomas 
Dale,  who  was  a  man  to  appreciate  the  high  motives 
of  Mr.  Rolfe.  In  a  letter  which  he  dispatched  from 
Jamestown,  June  18,  1614,  to  a  reverend  friend  in 
London,  he  describes  the  expedition  when   Poca- 


I6i4]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  221 

hontas  was  carried  up  the  river,  and  adds  the  infor- 
mation that  when  she  went  on  shore,  "  she  would 
not  talk  to  any  of  them,  scarcely  to  them  of  the  best 
sort,  and  to  them  only,  that  if  her  father  had  loved 
her,  he  would  not  value  her  less  than  old  swords, 
pieces,  or  axes;  wherefore  she  would  still  dwell  with 
the  Englishmen  who  loved  her," 

''  Powhatan's  daughter  [the  letter  continues]  I 
caused  to  be  carefully  instructed  in  Christian  Re- 
ligion, who  after  she  had  made  some  good  progress 
therein,  renounced  publically  her  countrey  Idolatry, 
openly  confessed  her  Christian  faith,  was,  as  she 
desired,  baptized,  and  is  since  married  to  an  English 
Gentleman  of  good  understanding  (as  by  his  letter 
unto  me,  containing  the  reasons  ior  his  marriage 
of  her  you  may  perceive),  an  other  knot  to  bind 
this  peace  the  stronger.  Her  father  and  friends 
gave  approbation  to  it,  and  her  uncle  gave  her  to 
him  in  the  church;  she  lives  civilly  and  lovingly 
with  him,  and  I  trust  will  increase  in  goodness,  as 
the  knowledge  of  God  increaseth  in  her.  She  will 
goe  into  England  with  me,  and  were  it  but  the 
gayning  of  this  one  soule,  I  will  think  my  time, 
toile,  and  present  stay  well  spent." 

Hamor  also  appends  to  his  narration  a  short 
letter,  of  the  same  date  with  the  above,  from  the 
minister  Alexander  Whittaker,  the  genuineness  of 
which  is  questioned.  In  speaking  of  the  good  deeds 
of  Sir  Thomas  Dale  it  says:  "But  that  which  is 
best,  one  Pocahuntas  or  Matoa,  the  daughter  of 
Powhatan,  is  married  to  an  honest  and  discreet 
English  Gentleman — Master  Rolfe,  and  that  after 
she  had  openly  renounced  her  countrey  Idolatry, 
and  confessed  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  was 
baptized,    which     thing     Sir    Thomas     Dale     had 


222  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

laboured  a  long  time  to  ground  her  in."  If,  as 
this  proclaims,  she  was  married  after  her  conver- 
sion, then  Rolfe's  tender  conscience  must  have 
given  him  another  twist  for  wedding  her,  w^hen  the 
reason  for  marrying  her  (her  conversion)  had  ceased 
with  her  baptism.  His  marriage,  according  to  this, 
was  a  pure  work  of  supererogation.  It  took  place 
about  the  fifth  of  April,  1614.  It  is  not  known  who 
performed  the  ceremony. 

How  Pocahontas  passed  her  time  in  Jamestown 
during  the  period  of  her  detention,  we  are  not  told. 
Conjectures  are  made  that  she  was  an  inmate  of  the 
house  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  or  of  that  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Whittaker,  both  of  whom  labored  zealously  to 
enlighten  her  mind  on  religious  subjects.  She  must 
also  have  been  learning  English  and  civilized  ways, 
for  it  is  sure  that  she  spoke  our  language  very  well 
when  she  went  to  London.  Mr.  John  Rolfe  was 
also  laboring  for  her  conversion,  and  we  may  sup- 
pose that  with  all  these  ministrations,  mingled  with 
her  love  of  Mr.  Rolfe,  which  that  ingenuous  wid- 
ower had  discovered,  and  her  desire  to  convert  him 
into  a  husband,  she  was  not  an  unwilling  captive. 
Whatever  may  have  been  her  barbarous  instincts, 
we  have  the  testimony  of  Gov.  Dale  that  she  lived 
"civilly  and  lovingly"  with  her  husband. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    STORY    OF    POCAHONTAS,    CONTINUED. 

SIR  THOMAS  DALE  was  on  the  whole  the  most 
efficient  and  discreet  Governor  the  colony  had 
had.  One  element  of  his  success  was  no  doubt  the 
change  in  the  charter  of  1609.  By  the  first  charter 
everything  had  been  held  in  common  by  the  com- 
pany, and  there  had  been  no  division  of  property 
or  allotment  of  land  among  the  colonists.  Under 
the  new  regime  land  was  held  in  severalty,  and  the 
spur  of  individual  interest  began  at  once  to  improve 
the  condition  of  the  settlement.  The  character  of 
the  colonists  was  also  gradually  improving.  They 
had  not  been  of  a  sort  to  fulfill  the  earnest  desire  of 
the  London  promoters  to  spread  vital  piety  in  the 
New  World.  A  zealous  defense  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  against  "  scandalous  imputation,"  enti- 
tled "Leah  and  Rachel;  or,  The  Two  Fruitful  Sis- 
ters," by  Mr.  John  Hammond,  London,  1656, 
considers  the  charges  that  Virginia  ''  is  an  un- 
healthy place,  a  nest  of  rogues,  abandoned  women, 
dissolut  and  rookery  persons;  a  place  of  intolerable 
labour,  bad  usage  and  hard  diet;"  and  admits  that 
"  at  the  first  settling,  and  for  many  years  after,  it 
deserved  most  of  these  aspersions,  nor  were  they 
then  aspersions  but  truths.  .  .  .  There  were  jails 
supplied,  youth  seduced,  infamous  women  drilled  in, 
the  provision  all  brought  out  of  England,  and  that 
embezzled  by  the  Trustees." 


224  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

Governor  Dale  was  a  soldier;  entering  the  army 
in  the  Netherlands  as  a  private  he  had  risen  to  high 
position,  and  received  knighthood  in  1606.  Shortly 
after  he  was  with  Sir  Thomas  Gates  in  South  Hol- 
land. The  States  General  in  161 1  granted  him 
three  years'  term  of  absence  in  Virginia.  Upon  his 
arrival  he  began  to  put  in  force  that  system  of  in- 
dustry and  frugality  he  had  observed  in  Holland. 
He  had  all  the  imperiousness  of  a  soldier,  and  in  an 
altercation  with  Captain  Newport,  occasioned  by 
some  injurious  remarks  the  latter  made  about  Sir 
Thomas  Smith,  the  treasurer,  he  pulled  his  beard 
and  threatened  to  hang  him.  Active  operations  for 
settling  new  plantations  were  at  once  begun,  and 
Dale  wrote  to  Cecil,  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  for  2,000 
good  colonists  to  be  sent  out,  for  the  three  hundred 
that  came  were  "  so  profane,  so  riotous,  so  full  of 
mutiny,  that  not  many  are  Christians  but  in  name, 
their  bodies  so  diseased  and  crazed  that  not  sixty  of 
them  may  be  employed."  He  served  afterwards 
with  credit  in  Holland,  was  made  commander  of 
the  East  Indian  fleet  in  16 18,  had  a  naval  engage- 
ment with  the  Dutch  near  Bantam  in  1619,  and  died 
in  1620  from  the  effects  of  the  climate.  He  was 
twice  married,  and  his  second  wife.  Lady  Fanny, 
the  cousin  of  his  first  wife,  survived  him  and  re- 
ceived a  patent  for  a  Virginia  plantation. 

Governor  Dale  kept  steadily  in  view  the  con- 
version of  the  Indians  to  Christianity,  and  the  suc- 
cess of  John  Rolfe  with  Matoaka  inspired  him  with 
a  desire  to  convert  another  daughter  of  Powhatan, 
of  whose  exquisite  perfections  he  had  heard.  He 
therefore  dispatched  Ralph  Hamor,  with  the  Eng- 
lish boy,  Thomas  Savage,  as  interpreter,  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  court  of   Powhatan,  "  upon  a  message 


i6i4]  THE    STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  225 

unto  him,  which  was  to  deale  with  him,  if  by  any 
means  I  might  procure  a  daughter  of  his,  who  (Po- 
cahuntas  being  already  in  our  possession)  is  gen- 
erally reported  to  be  his  delight  and  darling,  and 
surely  he  esteemed  her  as  his  owne  soule,  for  surer 
pledge  of  peace."  This  visit  Hamor  relates  with 
great  naivete. 

At  his  town  of  Matchcot,  near  the  head  of  York 
River,  Powhatan  himself  received  his  visitors  when 
they  landed,  with  great  cordiality,  expressing  much 
pleasure  at  seeing  again  the  boy  who  had  been  pre- 
sented to  him  by  Captain  Newport,  and  whom  he 
had  not  seen  since  he  gave  him  leave  to  go  and  see 
his  friends  at  Jamestown  four  years  before;  he  also 
inquired  anxiously  after  Namontack,  whom  he  had 
sent  to  King  James'  land  to  see  him  and  his  coun- 
try and  report  thereon,  and  then  led  the  way  to  his 
house,  where  he  sat  down  on  his  bedstead  side.  "  On 
each  hand  of  him  was  placed  a  comely  and  per- 
sonable young  woman,  which  they  called  his 
Queenes,  the  howse  within  round  about  beset  with 
them,  the  outside  guarded  with  a  hundred  bow- 
men." 

The  first  thing  offered  was  a  pipe  of  tobacco, 
which  Powhatan  "first  drank,"  and  then  passed  to 
Hamor,  who  "  drank "  what  he  pleased  and  then 
returned  it.  The  Emperor  then  inquired  how  his 
brother  Sir  Thomas  Dale  fared,  "  and  after  that  of 
his  daughter's  welfare,  her  marriage,  his  unknown 
son,  and  how  they  liked,  lived  and  loved  together." 
Hamor  replied  "  that  his  brother  was  very  well,  and 
his  daughter  so  well  content  that  she  would  not 
change  her  life  to  return  and  live  with  him,  whereat 
he  laughed  heartily,  and  said  he  was  very  glad  of 
it." 


226  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

Powhatan  then  desired  to  know  the  cause  of  his 
unexpected  coming,  and  Mr.  Hamor  said  his  mes- 
sage was  private,  to  be  delivered  to  him  without  the 
presence  of  any  except  one  of  his  councilors,  and 
one  of  the  guides,  who  already  knew  it. 

Therefore  the  house  was  cleared  of  all  except  the 
two  Queens,  who  may  never  sequester  themselves, 
and  Mr.  Hamor  began  his  palaver.  First  there  was 
a  message  of  love  and  inviolable  peace,  the  produc- 
tion of  presents  of  coffee,  beads,  combs,  fish-hooks, 
and  knives,  and  the  promise  of  a  grindstone  when 
it  pleased  the  Emperor  to  send  for  it.  Hamor  then 
proceeded: 

"  The  bruite  of  the  exquesite  perfection  of  your  young- 
est daughter,  being  famous  through  all  your  territories, 
hath  come  to  the  hearing  of  your  brother,  Sir  Thomas 
Dale,  who  for  this  purpose  hath  addressed  me  hither,  to 
intreate  you  by  that  brotherly  friendship  you  make  pro- 
fession of,  to  permit  her  (with  me)  to  returne  unto  him. 
partly  for  the  desire  which  himselfe  hath,  and  partly  for 
the  desire  her  sister  hath  to  see  her  of  whom,  if  fame  hath 
not  been  prodigall,  as  like  enough  it  hath  not,  your  broth- 
er (by  your  favour)  would  gladly  make  his  nearest  com- 
panion, wife  and  bed  fellow  [many  times  he  would  have 
interrupted  my  speech,  which  I  entreated  him  to  heare 
out,  and  then  if  he  pleased  to  returne  me  answer],  and  the 
reason  hereof  is,  because  being  now  friendly  and  firmJy 
united  together,  and  made  one  people  [as  he  supposeth  and 
believes]  in  the  bond  of  love,  he  would  make  a  natural  union 
between  us,  principally  because  himself  hath  taken  resolu- 
tion to  dwel  in  your  country  so  long  as  he  liveth,  and 
would  not  only  therefore  have  the  firmest  assurance  hee 
may,  of  perpetuall  friendship  from  you,  but  also  hereby 
binde  himselfe  thereunto." 

Powhatan  replied  with  dignity  that  he  gladly  ac- 
cepted the  salute  of  love  and  peace,  which  he  and. 


i6i4]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  22/ 

his  subjects  would  exactly  maintain.  But  as  to  the 
other  matter,  he  said:  "  My  daughter,  whom  my 
brother  desireth,  I  sold  within  these  three  days  to 
be  wife  to  a  great  Weroance  for  two  bushels  of 
Roanoke  [a  small  kind  of  beads  made  of  oyster 
shells],  and  it  is  true  she  is  already  gone  with  him, 
three  days'  journey  from  me." 

Hamor  persisted  that  this  marriage  need  not 
stand  in  the  way;  "that  if  he  pleased  herein  to 
gratify  his  Brother  he  might,  restoring  the  Roanoke 
without  the  imputation  of  injustice,  take  home  his 
daughter  again,  the  rather  because  she  was  not  full 
twelve  years  old,  and  therefore  not  marriageable; 
assuring  him  besides  the  bond  of  peace,  so  much 
the  firmer,  he  should  have  treble  the  price  of  his 
daughter  in  beads,  copper,  hatchets  and  many  other 
things  more  useful  for  him." 

The  reply  of  the  noble  old  savage  to  this  infamous 
demand  ought  to  have  brought  a  blush  to  the  cheeks 
of  those  who  made  it.  He  said  he  loved  his  daugh- 
ter as  dearly  as  his  life;  he  had  many  children,  but 
he  delighted  in  none  so  much  as  in  her;  he  could 
not  live  if  he  did  not  see  her  often,  as  he  would 
not  if  she  were  living  with  the  whites,  and  he  was 
determined  not  to  put  himself  in  their  hands.  He 
desired  no  other  assurance  of  friendship  than  his 
brother  had  given  him,  who  had  already  one  of  his 
daughters  as  a  pledge,  which  was  sufficient  while 
she  lived;  "when  she  dieth  he  shall  have  another 
child  of  mine."  And  then  he  broke  forth  in  pa- 
thetic eloquence:  "I  hold  it  not  a  brotherly  part 
of  your  King,  to  desire  to  bereave  me  of  two  of  my 
children  at  once;  further  give  him  to  understand, 
that  if  he  had  no  pledge  at  all,  he  should  not  need 
to  distrust  any  injury  from   me,  or  any  under  my 


228  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1614 

subjection;  there  have  been  too  many  of  his  and  my 
men  killed,  and  by  my  occasion  there  shall  never  be 
more;  I  which  have  power  to  perform  it  have  said 
it;  no  not  though  I  should  have  just  occasion  of- 
fered, for  I  am  now  old  and  would  gladly  end  my 
days  in  peace;  so  as  if  the  English  offer  me  any  in- 
jury, my  country  is  large  enough,  I  will  remove 
myself  farther  from  you." 

The  old  man  hospitably  entertained  his  guests 
for  a  day  or  two,  loaded  them  with  presents,  among 
which  were  two  dressed  buckskins,  white  as  snow, 
for  his  son  and  daughter,  and,  requesting  some  ar- 
ticles sent  him  in  return,  bade  them  farewell  with 
this  message  to  Governor  Dale:  "  I  hope  this  will 
give  him  good  satisfaction,  if  it  do  not  I  will  go 
three  days'  journey  farther  from  him,  and  never 
see  Englishmen  more."  It  speaks  well  for  the  tem- 
perate habits  of  this  savage  that  after  he  had  feast- 
ed his  guests,  "  he  caused  to  be  fetched  a  great  glass 
of  sack,  some  three  quarts  or  better,  which  Captain 
Newport  had  given  him  six  or  seven  years  since, 
carefully  preserved  by  him,  not  much  above  a  pint 
in  all  this  time  spent,  and  gave  each  of  us  in  a  great 
oyster  shell  some  three  spoonfuls." 

We  trust  that  Sir  Thomas  Dale  gave  a  faithful 
account  of  all  this  to  his  wife  in  England. 

Sir  Thomas  Gates  left  Virginia  in  the  spring  of 
1614  and  never  returned.  After  his  departure  scar- 
city and  severity  developed  a  mutiny,  and  six  of  the 
settlers  were  executed.  Rolfe  was  planting  tobacco 
(he  has  the  credit  of  being  the  first  white  planter  of 
it),  and  his  wife  was  getting  an  inside  view  of 
Christian  civilization. 

In  1616  Sir  Thomas  Dale  returned  to  England 
with  his  company  and  John  Rolfe  and  Pocahontas, 


i6i6]  THE   STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  229 

and  several  other  Indians.  They  reached  Plymouth 
early  in  June,  and  on  the  20th  Lord  Carew  made 
this  note:  "Sir  Thomas  Dale  returned  from  Vir- 
ginia; he  hath  brought  divers  men  and  women  of 
thatt  countrye  to  be  educated  here,  and  one  Rolfe 
who  married  a  daughter  of  Pohetan  (the  barbarous 
prince)  called  Pocahuntas,  hath  brought  his  wife 
with  him  into  England."  On  the  22d  Sir  John 
Chamberlain  wrote  to  Sir  Dudley  Carlton  that 
there  were  ten  or  twelve,  old  and  young,  of  that 
country. 

The  Indian  girls  who  came  with  Pocahontas  ap- 
pear to  have  been  a  great  care  to  the  London  com- 
pany. In  May,  1620,  is  a  record  that  the  company 
had  to  pay  for  physic  and  cordials  for  one  of  them 
who  had  been  living  as  a  servant  in  Cheapside,  and 
was  very  weak  of  a  consumption.  The  same  year 
two  other  of  the  maids  were  shipped  off  to  the  Ber- 
mudas, after  being  long  a  charge  to  the  company, 
in  the  hope  that  they  might  there  get  husbands, 
"  that  after  they  were  converted  and  had  children, 
they  might  be  sent  to  their  country  and  kindred  to 
civilize  them."  One  of  them  was  there  married. 
The  attempt  to  educate  them  in  England  was  not 
very  successful,  and  a  proposal  to  bring  over  Indian 
boys  obtained  this  comment  from  Sir  Edwin  Sandys: 
"  Now  to  send  for  them  into  England,  and  to  have 
them  educated  here,  he  found  upon  experience  of 
those  brought  by  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  might  be  far 
from  the  Christian  work  intended."  One  Nana- 
mack,  a  lad  brought  over  by  Lord  Delaware,  lived 
some  years  in  houses  where  "  he  heard  not  much  of 
religion  but  sins,  had  many  times  examples  of 
drinking,  swearing  and  like  evils,  ran  as  he  was  a 
mere  Pagan,"  till  he  fell  in  with  a  devout  family 


230  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1616 

and  changed  his  life,  but  died  before  he  was  bap- 
tized. Accompanying  Pocahontas  was  a  councilor 
of  Powhatan,  one  Tomocomo,  the  husband  of  one 
of  her  sisters,  of  whom  Purchas  says  in  his  ^'  Pil- 
grimes":  "With  this  savage  I  have  often  conversed 
with  my  good  friend  Master  Doctor  Goldstone 
where  he  was  a  frequent  geust,  and  where  I  have 
seen  him  sing  and  dance  his  diabolical  measures, 
and  heard  him  discourse  of  his  country  and  religion. 
....  Master  Rolfe  lent  me  a  discourse  which  I 
have  in  my  Pilgrimage  delivered.  And  his  wife 
did  not  only  accustom  herself  to  civility,  but  still 
carried  herself  as  the  daughter  of  a  king,  and  was 
accordingly  respected,  not  only  by  the  Company 
which  allowed  provision  for  herself  and  her  son, 
but  of  divers  particular  persons  of  honor,  in  their 
hopeful  zeal  by  her  to  advance  Christianity.  I  was 
present  when  my  honorable  and  reverend  patron, 
the  Lord  Bishop  of  London,  Doctor  King,  enter- 
tained her  with  festival  state  and  pomp  beyond 
what  I  had  seen  in  his  great  hospitality  offered  to 
other  ladies.  At  her  return  towards  Virginia  she 
came  at  Gravesend  to  her  end  and  grave,  having 
given  great  demonstration  of  her  Christian  sincerity, 
as  the  first  fruits  of  Virginia  conversion,  leaving 
here  a  goodly  memory,  and  the  hopes  of  her  resur- 
rection, her  soul  aspiring  to  see  and  enjoy  perma- 
nently in  heaven  what  here  she  had  joyed  to  hear 
and  believe  of  her  blessed  Saviour.  Not  such  was 
Tomocomo,  but  a  blasphemer  of  what  he  knew  not 
and  preferring  his  God  to  ours  because  he  taught 
them  (by  his  own  so  appearing)  to  wear  their  Devil- 
lock  at  the  left  ear;  he  acquainted  me  with  the  man- 
ner of  that  his  appearance,  and  believed  that  their 
Okee  or  Devil  had  taught  them  their  husbandry." 


i6i6]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  23 1 

Upon  news  of  her  arrival,  Capt.  Smith,  either  to 
increase  his  own  importance  or  because  Pocahontas 
was  neglected,  addressed  a  letter  or  "  little  booke" 
to  Queen  Anne,  the  consort  of  King  James.  This 
letter  is  found  in  Smith's  "General  Historie"  (1624), 
where  it  is  introduced  as  having  been  sent  to  Queen 
Anne  in  1616.  Probably  he  sent  her  such  a  letter., 
We  find  no  mention  of  its  receipt  or  of  any  acknowl-  ' 
edgment  of  it.  Whether  the  "abstract"  in  the 
"  General  Historie"  is  exactly  like  the  original  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  We  have  no  more  con- 
fidence in  Smith's  memory  than  we  have  in  his 
dates.     The  letter  is  as  follows: 

"  To  the  most  high  a?id  vert  nous  Priftcesse  Queene  An7ie  of 
Great  Brzttaine. 

"  Most  Admired  Queene. 

"  The  love  I  beare  my  God,  my  King  and  Countrie  hath 
so  oft  emboldened  me  in  the  worst  of  extreme  dangers, 
that  now  honestie  doth  constraine  mee  presume  thus  farre 
beyond  my  selfe,  to  present  your  Majestic  this  short  dis- 
course: if  ingratitude  be  a  deadly  poyson  to  all  honest 
vertues,  I  must  be  guiltie  of  that  crime  if  I  should  omit 
any  meanes  to  bee  thankful.     So  it  is. 

"That  some  ten  yeeres  agoe  being  in  Virginia,  and  taken 
prisoner  by  the  power  of  Powhaten,  their  chiefe  King,  I 
received  from  this  great  Salvage  exceeding  great  courtesie, 
especially  from  his  sonne  Nantaquaus,  the  most  manliest, 
comeliest,  boldest  spirit,  I  ever  saw  in  a  Salvage  and  his 
sister  Pocahontas,  the  Kings  most  deare  and  wel-beloved 
daughter,  being  but  a  childe  of  twelve  or  thirteen  yeeres 
of  age,  whose  compassionate  pitifuU  heart,  of  desperate 
estate,  gave  me  much  cause  to  respect  her:  I  being  the 
first  Christian  this  proud  King  and  his  grim  attendants 
ever  saw,  and  thus  enthralled  in  their  barbarous  power,  I 
cannot  say  I  felt  the  least  occasion  of  want  that  was  in  the 
power  of  those  my  mortall  foes  to  prevent  notwithstand- 


232  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1616 

ing  al  their  threats.  After  some  six  weeks  fatting  amongst 
those  Salvage  Courtiers,  at  the  minute  of  my  execution, 
she  hazarded  the  beating  out  of  her  owne  braines  to  save 
mine,  and  not  onely  that,  but  so  prevailed  with  her  father, 
that  I  was  safely  conducted  to  Jamestowne,  where  I  found 
about  eight  and  thirty  miserable  poore  and  sicke  creatures, 
to  keepe  possession  of  all  those  large  territories  of  Vir- 
ginia, such  was  the  weaknesse  of  this  poore  Common- 
wealth, as  had  the  Salvages  not  fed  us,  we  directly  had 
starved. 

"  And  this  reliefe,  most  gracious  Queene,  was  commonly 
brought  us  by  this  Lady  Pocahontas,  notwithstanding  all 
these  passages  when  inconstant  Fortune  turned  our  Peace 
to  warre,  this  tender  Virgin  would  still  not  spare  to  dare 
to  visit  us,  and  by  her  our  jarres  have  been  oft  appeased, 
and  our  wants  still  supplyed  ;  were  it  the  policie  of  her 
father  thus  to  imploy  her,  or  the  ordinance  of  God  thus 
to  make  her  his  instrument,  or  her  extraordinarie  affection 
to  our  Nation,  I  know  not:  but  of  this  I  am  sure:  when 
her  father  with  the  utmost  of  his  policie  and  power,  sought 
to  surprize  mee,  having  but  eighteene  with  mee,  the  dark 
night  could  not  affright  her  from  comming  through  the 
irksome  woods,  and  with  watered  eies  gave  me  intilligence, 
with  her  best  advice  to  escape  his  furie :  which  had  hee 
known  hee  had  surely  slaine  her.  Jamestowne  with  her 
wild  traine  she  as  freely  frequented,  as  her  father's  habita- 
tion :  and  during  the  time  of  two  or  three  yeares,  she  next 
under  God,  was  still  the  instrument  to  preserve  this  Col- 
onic from  death,  famine  and  utter  confusion,  which  if  in 
those  times  had  once  beene  dissolved,  Virginia  might  have 
laine  as  it  was  at  our  first  arrivall  to  this  day.  Since  then,  this 
buisinesse  having  been  turned  and  varied  by  many  acci- 
dents from  that  I  left  it  at :  it  is  most  certaine,  after  a  long 
and  troublesome  warre  after  my  departure,  betwixt  her 
father  and  our  Colonic,  all  which  time  shee  was  not  heard 
of,  about  two  yeeres  longer,  the  Colonic  by  that  meanes 
was  releived,  peace  concluded,  and  at  last  rejecting  her 
barbarous  condition,  was  maried  to  an  English  Gentleman, 
with  whom  at  this  present  she  is  in  England ;  the  first 


i6i6]  THE    STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  233 

Christian  ever  of  that  Nation,  the  first  Virginian  ever 
spake  English,  or  had  a  childe  in  mariage  by  an  English- 
man, a  matter  surely,  if  my  meaning  bee  truly  considered 
and  well  understood,  worthy  a  Princes  understanding. 

"  Thus  most  gracious  Lady,  I  have  related  to  your 
Majestic,  what  at  your  best  leasure  our  approved  Histo- 
ries will  account  you  at  large,  and  done  in  the  time  of 
your  Majesties  life,  and  however  this  might  bee  presented 
you  from  a  more  worthy  pen,  it  cannot  from  a  more 
honest  heart,  as  yet  I  never  begged  anything  of  the  State, 
or  any,  and  it  is  my  want  of  abilitie  and  her  exceeding 
desert,  your  birth  meanes,  and  authoritie,  her  birth,  vertue, 
want  and  simplicitie,  doth  make  mee  thus  bold,  humbly  to 
beseech  your  Majestic :  to  take  this  knowledge  of  her 
though  it  be  from  one  so  unworthy  to  be  the  reporter,  as 
myselfe,  her  husband's  estate  not  being  able  to  make  her 
fit  to  attend  your  Majestic :  the  most  and  least  I  can  doe, 
is  to  tell  you  this,  because  none  so  oft  hath  tried  it  as  my- 
selfe :  and  the  rather  being  of  so  great  a  spirit,  however 
her  station  :  if  she  should  not  be  well  received,  seeing  this 
Kingdome  may  rightly  have  a  Kingdome  by  her  meanes : 
her  present  love  to  us  and  Christianitie,  might  turne  to 
such  scorne  and  furie,  as  to  divert  all  this  good  to  the 
worst  of  evill,  when  finding  so  great  a  Queene  should  doe 
her  some  honour  more  than  she  can  imagine,  for  being  so 
kinde  to  your  servants  and  subjects,  would  so  ravish  her 
with  content,  as  endeare  her  dearest  bloud  to  effect  that, 
your  Majestic  and  all  the  Kings  honest  subjects  most 
earnestly  desire :  and  so  I  humbly  kisse  your  gracious 
hands." 

The  passage  in  this  letter,  "  She  hazarded  the 
beating  out  of  herowne  braines  to  save  mine,"  is  in- 
consistent with  the  preceding  portion  of  the  para- 
graph which  speaks  of  "  the  exceeding  great  cour- 
tesie"  of  Powhatan;  and  Smith  was  quite  capable 
of  inserting  it  afterwards  when  he  made  up  his 
"  General  Historie." 


234  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1616 

Smith  represents  himself  at  this  time — the  last 
half  of  1616  and  the  first  three  months  of  1617 — as 
preparing  to  attempt  a  third  voyage  to  New  Eng- 
land (which  he  did  not  make),  and  too  busy  to  do 
Pocahontas  the  service  she  desired.  She  was  staying 
at  Branford,  either  from  neglect  of  the  company  or 
because  the  London  smoke  disagreed  with  her,  and 
there  Smith  went  to  see  her.  His  account  of  his 
intercourse  with  her,  the  only  one  we  have,  must  be 
given  for  what  it  is  worth.  According  to  this  she 
had  supposed  Smith  dead,  and  took  umbrage  at  his 
neglect  of  her.     He  writes: 

"After  a  modest  salutation,  without  any  word,  she 
turned  about,  obscured  her  face,  as  not  seeming  well  con- 
tented ;  and  in  that  humour,  her  husband  with  divers  others, 
we  all  left  her  two  or  three  hours  repenting  myself  to 
have  writ  she  could  speak  English.  But  not  long  after 
she  began  to  talke,  remembering  me  well  what  courtesies 
she  had  done:  saying,  'You  did  promise  Powhatan  what 
was  yours  should  be  his,  and  he  the  like  to  you;  you, 
called  him  father,  being  in  his  land  a  stranger,  and  by 
the  same  reason  so  must  I  do  you  :'  which  though  I  would 
have  excused,  I  durst  not  allow  of  that  title,  because  she 
was  a  king's  daughter.  With  a  well  set  countenance  she 
said :  '  Were  you  not  afraid  to  come  into  my  father's 
country  and  cause  fear  in  him  and  all  his  people  (but 
me),  and  fear  you  have  I  should  call  you  father;  I  tell 
you  then  I  will,  and  you  shall  call  me  childe,  and  so 
I  will  be  forever  and  ever,  your  contrieman.  They  did 
tell  me  alwaies  you  were  dead,  and  I  knew  no  other  till 
I  came  to  Plymouth,  yet  Powhatan  did  command  Utta- 
matomakkin  to  seek  you,  and  know  the  truth,  because 
your  countriemen  will  lie  much.'  " 

This  savage  was  the  Tomocomo  spoken  of  above, 
who  had  been  sent  by  Powhatan  to  take  a  census 
of  the  people  of  England,  and  report  what  they  and 


i6i6]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  235 

their  state  were.  At  Plymouth  he  got  a  long  stick 
and  began  to  make  notches  in  it  for  the  people  he 
saw.  But  he  was  quickly  weary  of  that  task.  He 
told  Smith  that  Powhatan  bade  him  seek  him  out, 
and  get  him  to  show  him  his  God,  and  the  King, 
Oueen,  and  Prince,  of  whom  Smith  had  told  so 
much.  Smith  put  him  off  about  showing  his  God, 
but  said  he  had  heard  that  he  had  seen  the  King.  This 
the  Indian  denied,  James  probably  not  coming  up 
to  his  idea  of  a  king,  till  by  circumstances  he 
was  convinced  he  had  seen  him.  Then  he  replied 
very  sadly:  "You  gave  Powhatan  a  white  dog, 
which  Powhatan  fed  as  himself,  but  your  king 
gave  me  nothing,  and  I  am  better  than  your  white 
dog." 

Smith  adds  that  he  took  several  courtiers  to  see 
Pocahontas,  and  "they  did  think  God  had  a  great 
hand  in  her  conversion,  and  they  have  seen  many 
English  ladies  worse  favoured,  proportioned  and 
•behavioured;"  and  he  heard  that  it  had  pleased  the 
King  and  Queen  greatly  to  esteem  her,  as  also  Lord 
and  Lady  Delaware,  and  other  persons  of  good 
quality,  both  at  the  masques  and  otherwise. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  reception  of  Poca- 
hontas in  London,  but  the  contemporary  notices  of 
her  are  scant.  The  Indians  were  objects  of  curi- 
osity for  a  time  in  London,  as  odd  Americans  have 
often  been  since,  and  the  rank  of  Pocahontas  pro- 
cured her  special  attention.  She  was  presented  at 
court.  She  was  entertained  by  Dr.  King,  Bishop  of 
London.  At  the  playing  of  Ben  Jonson's  "  Christ- 
mas his  Mask"  at  court,  January  6th,  1616-17, 
Pocahontas  and  Tomocomo  were  both  present,  and 
Chamberlain  writes  to  Carleton:  "The  Virginian 
woman  Pocahuntas  with  her  father  counsellor  have 


236  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1616-17 

been  with  the  King  and  graciously  used,  and  both 
she  and  her  assistant  were  pleased  at  the  Masque. 
She  is  upon  her  return  though  sore  against  her  will, 
if  the  wind  would  about  to  send  her  away." 

Mr.  Neill  says  that  "  after  the  first  weeks  of  her 
residence  in  England  she  does  not  appear  to  be 
spoken  of  as  the  wife  of  Rolfe  by  the  letter  writers," 
and  the  Rev.  Peter  Fontaine  says  that  "  when  they 
heard  that  Rolfe  had  married  Pocahontas,  it  was 
deliberated  in  council  whether  he  had  not  com- 
mitted high  treason  by  so  doing,  that  is  marrying 
an  Indian  princesse." 

It  was  like  James  to  think  so.  His  interest  in 
the  colony  was  never  the  most  intelligent,  and  apt 
to  be  in  things  trivial.  Lord  Southampton  (Dec. 
15,  1609)  writes  to  Lord  Salisbury  that  he  had  told 
the  King  of  the  Virginia  squirrels  brought  into 
England,  which  are  said  to  fly.  The  King  very 
earnestly  asked  if  none  were  provided  for  him,  and 
said  he  was  sure  Salisbury  would  get  him  one.- 
Would  not  have  troubled  him,  "  but  that  you  know 
so  well  how  he  is  affected  to  these  toys." 

There  has  been  recently  found  in  the  British 
Museum  a  print  of  a  portrait  of  Pocahontas,  with 
a  legend  round  it  in  Latin,  which  is  translated: 
"  Matoaka,  alias  Rebecka,  Daughter  of  Prince  Pow- 
hatan, Emperor  of  Virginia;  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity, married  Mr.  Rolff;  died  on  shipboard  at 
Gravesend  161 7."  This  is  doubtless  the  portrait 
engraved  by  Simon  De  Passe  in  1616,  and  now  in- 
serted in  the  extant  copies  of  the  London  edition 
of  the  "  General  Historic,"  1624.  It  is  not  proba- 
ble that  the  portrait  was  originally  published  with 
the  "General  Historic."  The  portrait  inserted  in 
the  edition  of  1624  has  this  inscription: 


I6i6-i7]        THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  23/ 

Round  the  portrait: 

"  Matoaka  als  Rebecca  Filia  Potentiss  Princ:  Pohatani  Imp: 
Virginise." 

In  the  oval,  under  the  portrait: 

"  ^tatis  suae  21  A° 
1616." 
Below: 

"  Matoaks  als  Rebecka  daughter  to  the  mighty  Prince  Pow- 
hatan  Emprour  of  Attanoughkomouck  als  Virginia   converted 
and  baptized  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  wife  to  the  wor*"   Mr. 
Joh  Rolff. 
i  :  Pass  :  sculp.  Compton  Holland  excud. 

Camden  in  his  "History  of  Gravesend  "  says  that 
"everybody  paid  this  young  lady  all  imaginable 
respect,  and  it  was  believed  she  would  have  suffi- 
ciently acknowledged  those  favors,  had  she  lived  to 
return  to  her  own  country,  by  bringing  the  Indians 
to  a  kinder  disposition  toward  the  English;"  and 
that  she  died,  "  giving  testimony  all  the  time  she 
lay  sick,  of  her  being  a  very  good  Christian." 

The  Lady  Rebecka,  as  she  was  called  in  London, 
died  on  shipboard  at  Gravesend  after  a  brief  illness, 
said  to  be  of  only  three  days,  probably  on  the  21st 
of  March,  1617.  I  have  seen  somewhere  a  state- 
ment, which  I  cannot  confirm,  that  her  disease  was 
small-pox.  St.  George's  Church,  where  she  was 
buried,  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1727.  The  register 
of  that  church  has  this  record: 

"  1616,  May  2j  Rebecca  Wrothe 

Wyff  of  Thomas  Wroth  gent 

A  Virginia  lady  borne,  here  was  buried 

in  ye  chaunncle." 

Yet  there  is  no  doubt,  according  to  a  record  in 
the  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  dated  "  161 7  29  March, 
London,"  that  her  death  occurred  March  21,  1617. 


238  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1617-22 

John  Rolfe  was  made  Secretary  of  Virginia  when 
Captain  Argall  became  Governor,  and  seems  to 
have  been  associated  in  the  schemes  of  that  un- 
scrupulous person  and  to  have  forfeited  the  good 
opinion  of  the  company.  August  23d,  1618,  the 
company  wrote  to  Argall:  "  We  cannot  imagine  why 
you  should  give  us  warning  that  Opechankano  and 
the  natives  have  given  the  country  to  Mr.  Rolfe's 
child,  and  that  they  reserve  it  from  all  others  till 
he  comes  of  years  except  as  we  suppose  as  some  do 
here  report  it  be  a  device  of  your  own,  to  some 
special  purpose  for  yourself."  It  appears  also  by 
the  minutes  of  the  company  in  1621  that  Lady  Dela- 
ware had  trouble  to  recover  goods  of  hers  left  in 
Rolfe's  hands  in  Virginia,  and  desired  a  commission 
directed  to  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  and  Mr.  George 
Sandys  to  examine  what  goods  of  the  late  "Lord 
Deleware  had  come  into  Rolfe's  possession  and  get 
satisfaction  of  him."  This  George  Sandys  is  the  fa- 
mous traveler  who  made  a  journey  through  the 
Turkish  Empire  in  1610,  and  who  wrote,  while  liv- 
ing in  Virginia,  the  first  book  written  in  the  New 
World,  the  completion  of  his  translation  of  Ovid's 
"  Metamorphosis." 

John  Rolfe  died  in  Virginia  in  1622,  leaving  a 
wife  and  children.  This  is  supposed  to  be  his  third 
wife,  though  there  is  no  note  of  his  marriage  to  her 
nor  of  the  death  of  his  first.  October  7th,  1622,  his 
brother  Henry  Rolfe  petitioned  that  the  estate  of 
John  should  be  converted  to  the  support  of  his  rel- 
ict wife  and  children  and  to  his  own  indemnity  for 
having  brought  up  John's  child  by  Powhatan's 
daughter. 

This  child,  named  Thomas  Rolfe,  was  given  after 
the  death  of  Pocahontas  to  the  keeping  of  Sir  Lewis 


I6i8]  THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  239 

Stukely  of  Plymouth,  who  fell  into  evil  practices, 
and  the  boy  was  transferred  to  the  guardianship  of 
his  uncle  Henry  Rolfe,  and  educated  in  London. 
When  he  was  grown  up  he  returned  to  Virginia, 
and  was  probably  there  married.  There  is  on 
record  his  application  to  the  Virginia  authorities  in 
1641  for  leave  to  go  into  the  Indian  country  and 
visit  Cleopatra,  his  mother's  sister.  He  left  an  only 
daughter  who  was  married,  says  Stith  (1753),  "  to 
Col.  John  Boiling;  by  whom  she  left  an  only  son, 
the  late  Major  John  Boiling,  who  was  father  to 
the  present  Col.  John  Boiling,  and  several  daugh- 
ters, married  to  Col.  Richard  Randolph,  Col. 
John  Fleming,  Dr.  William  Gay,  Mr.  Thomas  El- 
dridge,  and  Mr.  James  Murray."  Campbell  in  his 
*^  History  of  Virginia  "  says  that  the  first  Randolph 
that  came  to  the  James  River  was  an  esteemed  and 
industrious  mechanic,  and  that  one  of  his  sons, 
Richard,  grandfather  of  the  celebrated  John  Ran- 
dolph, married  Jane  Boiling,  the  great  grand- 
daughter of  Pocahontas. 

In  16 18  died  the  great  Powhatan,  full  of  years 
and  satiated  with  fighting  and  the  savage  delights 
of  life.  He  had  many  names  and  titles;  his  own 
people  sometimes  called  him  Ottaniack,  sometimes 
Mamauatonick,  and  usually  in  his  presence  Wahun- 
senasawk.  He  ruled,  by  inheritance  and  conquest, 
with  many  chiefs  under  him,  over  a  large  territory 
with  not  defined  borders,  lying  on  the  James,  the 
York,  the  Rappahannock,  the  Potomac,  and  the 
Pavvtuxet  Rivers.  He  had  several  seats,  at  which 
he  alternately  lived  with  his  many  wives  and  guard 
of  bowmen,  the  chief  of  which  at  the  arrival  of  the 
English  was  Werowcomocomo,  on  the  Pamunkey 
(York)  River.     His  state  has  been  sufficiently  de- 


240  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610-18 

scribed.  He  is  said  to  have  had  a  hundred  wives, 
and  generally  a  dozen— the  youngest— personally 
attending  him.  When  he  had  amind  to  add  to  his 
harem  he  seems  to  have  had  the  ancient  oriental 
custom  of  sending  into  all  his  dominions  for  the 
fairest  maidens  to  be  brought  from  whom  to  select. 
And  he  gave  the  wives  of  whom  he  was  tired  to  his 
favorites. 

Strachey  makes  a  striking  description  of  him  as 
he  appeared  about  1610:  "  He  is  a  goodly  old  man, 
not  yet  shrincking,  though  well  beaten  with  cold 
and  stormeye  winters,  in  which  he  hath  been  patient 
of  many  necessityes  and  attempts  of  his  fortune  to 
make  his  name  and  famely  great.  He  is  supposed 
to  be  little  lesse  than  eighty  yeares  old,  I  dare  not 
saye  how  much  more;  others  saye  he  is  of  a  tall 
stature  and  cleane  lymbes,  of  a  sad  aspect,  rownd 
fatt  visaged,  with  graie  haires,  but  plaine  and  thin, 
hanging  upon  his  broad  showlders;  some  few  haires 
upon  his  chin,  and  so  on  his  upper  lippe:  he  hath 
been  a  strong  and  able  salvadge,  synowye,  vigilant, 
ambitious,  subtile  to  enlarge  his  dominions:  .  .  . 
cruell  he  hath  been,  and  quarellous  as  well  with  his 
own  werowances  for  trifles,  and  that  to  strike  a  ter- 
rour  and  awe  into  them  of  his  power  and  condicion, 
as  also  with  his  neighbors  in  his  younger  days, 
though  now  delighted  in  security  and  pleasure,  and 
therefore  stands  upon  reasonable  conditions  of 
peace  with  all  the  great  and  absolute  werowances 
about  him,  and  is  likewise  more  quietly  settled 
amongst  his  own." 

It  was  at  this  advanced  age  that  he  had  the  twelve 
favorite  young  wives  whom  Strachey  names.  All 
his  people  obeyed  him  with  fear  and  adoration,  pre- 
senting anything  he  ordered  at  his  feet,  and  trem- 


i6i(>-i8]        THE   STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  2\\ 

bling  if  he  frowned.  His  punishments  were  cruel; 
offenders  were  beaten  to  death  before  him,  or  tied 
to  trees  and  dismembered  joint  by  joint,  or  broiled 
to  death  on  burning  coals.  Strachey  wondered  how 
such  a  barbarous  prince  should  put  on  such  osten- 
tation of  majesty,  yet  he  accounted  for  it  as  be- 
longing to  the  necessary  divinity  that  doth  hedge 
in  a  king:  "  Such  is  (I  believe)  the  impression  of 
the  divine  nature,  and  however  these  (as  other 
heathens  forsaken  by  the  true  light)  have  not  that 
porcion  of  the  knowing  blessed  Christian  spiritt, 
yet  I  am  perswaded  there  is  an  infused  kind  of  di- 
vinities and  extraordinary  (appointed  that  it  shall 
be  so  by  the  King  of  kings)  to  such  as  are  his 
ymedyate  instruments  on  earth." 

Here  is  perhaps  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  say  a 
word  or  two  about  the  appearance  and  habits  of 
Powhatan's  subjects,  as  they  were  observed  by 
Strachey  and  Smith.  A  sort  of  religion  they  had, 
with  priests  or  conjurors,  and  houses  set  apart  as 
temples,  wherein  images  were  kept  and  conjurations 
performed,  but  the  ceremonies  seem  not  worship, 
but  propitiations  against  evil,  and  there  seems  to 
have  been  no  conception  of  an  overruling  power  or 
of  an  immortal  life.  Smith  describes  a  ceremony 
of  sacrifice  of  children  to  their  deity;  but  this  is 
doubtful,  although  Parson  Whittaker,  who  calls  the 
Indians  "naked  slaves  of  the  devil,"  also  says  they 
sacrificed  sometimes  themselves  and  sometimes 
their  own  children.  An  image  of  their  god  which 
he  sent  to  England  "  was  painted  upon  one  side  of 
a  toadstool,  much  like  unto  a  deformed  monster." 
And  he  adds:  "  Their  priests,  whom  they  call  Quoc- 
kosoughs,  are  no  other  but  such  as  our  English 
witches  are."     This  notion  I  believe  also  pertained 


242  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610-18 

among  the  New  England  colonists.  There  was  a 
belief  that  the  Indian  conjurors  had  some  power 
over  the  elements,  but  not  a  well-regulated  power, 
and  in  time  the  Indians  came  to  a  belief  in  the 
better  effect  of  the  invocations  of  the  whites.  In 
"  Winslow's  Relation,"  quoted  by  Alexander  Young 
in  his  "  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  under 
date  of  July,  1623,  we  read  that  on  account  of  a 
great  drought  a  fast  day  was  appointed.  When  the 
assembly  met  the  sky  was  clear.  The  exercise 
lasted  eight  or  nine  hours.  Before  they  broke  up, 
owing  to  prayers  the  weather  was  overcast.  Next 
day  began  a  long  gentle  rain.  This  the  Indians 
seeing,  admired  the  goodness  of  our  God:  ^'show- 
ing the  difference  between  their  conjuration  and 
our  invocation  in  the  name  of  God  for  rain;  theirs 
being  mixed  with  such  storms  and  tempests,  as 
sometimes,  instead  of  doing  them  good,  it  layeth 
the  corn  flat  on  the  ground;  but  ours  in  so  gentle 
and  seasonable  a  manner,  as  they  never  observed 
the  like." 

It  was  a  common  opinion  of  the  early  settlers  in 
Virginia,  as  it  was  of  those  in  New  England,  that 
the  Indians  were  born  white,  but  that  they  got  a 
brown  or  tawny  color  by  the  use  of  red  ointments, 
made  of  earth  and  the  juice  of  roots,  with  which 
they  besmear  themselves  either  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  country  or  as  a  defense  against  the 
stinging  of  mosquitoes.  The  women  are  of  the 
same  hue  as  the  men,  says  Strachey;  "  howbeit,  it 
is  supposed  neither  of  them  naturally  borne  so  dis- 
colored; for  Captain  Smith  (lyving  sometymes 
amongst  them)  affirmeth  how  they  are  from  the 
womb  indifferent  white,  but  as  the  men,  so  doe  the 
women,"  "dye  and   disguise   themselves   into   this 


16IQ-I8]       THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  243 

tawny  cowler,  esteeming  it  the  best  beauty  to  be 
nearest  such  a  kind  of  murrey  as  a  sodden  quince 
is  of,"  as  the  Greek  women  colored  their  faces  and 
the  ancient  Britain  women  dyed  themselves  with 
red;  "howbeit  [Strachey  slyly  adds]  he  or  she  that 
hath  obtained  the  perfected  art  in  the  tempering  of 
this  collour  with  any  better  kind  of  earth,  yearb  or 
root  preserves  it  not  yet  so  secrett  and  precious  unto 
herself  as  doe  our  great  ladyes  their  oyle  of  talchum, 
or  other  painting  white  and  red,  but  they  frindly 
communicate  the  secret  and  teach  it  one  another." 

Thomas  Lechford  in  his  *'  Plain  Dealing ;  or 
Newes  from  New  England,"  London,  1642,  says: 
"They  are  of  complexion  swarthy  and  tawny;  their 
children  are  borne  white,  but  they  bedawbe  them 
with  oyle  and  colors  presently." 

The  men  are  described  as  tall,  straight,  and  of 
comely  proportions;  no  beards;  hair  black,  coarse, 
and  thick;  noses  broad,  flat,  and  full  at  the  end; 
with  big  lips  and  wide  mouths,  yet  nothing  so  un- 
sightly as  the  Moors;  and  the  women  as  having 
"  handsome  limbs,  slender  arms,  pretty  hands,  and 
when  they  sing  they  have  a  pleasant  tange  in  their 
voices.  The  men  shaved  their  hair  on  the  right 
side,  the  women  acting  as  barbers,  and  left  the  hair 
full  length  on  the  left  side,  with  a  lock  an  ell  long." 
A  Puritan  divine — "  New  England's  Plantation, 
1630" — says  of  the  Indians  about  him, '' their  hair 
is  generally  black,  and  cut  before  like  our  gentle- 
women, and  one  lock  longer  than  the  rest,  much 
like  to  our  gentlemen,  which  fashion  I  think  came 
from  hence  into  England." 

Their  love  of  ornaments  is  sufficiently  illustrated 
by  an  extract  from  Strachey,  which  is  in  substance 
what  Smith  writes: 


244  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1610-18 

"  Their  eares  they  boare  with  wyde  holes,  commonly  two 
or  three,  and  in  the  same  they  doe  hang  chaines  of  stayned 
pearle  braceletts,  of  white  bone  or  shreeds  of  copper, 
beaten  thinne  and  bright,  and  wounde  up  hollowe,  and 
with  a  grate  pride,  certaine  fowles'  legges,  eagles,  hawkes, 
turkeys,  etc.,  with  beasts  clawes,  bears,  arrahacounes,  squir- 
rells,  etc.  The  clawes  thrust  through  they  let  hang  upon 
the  cheeke  to  the  full  view,  and  some  of  their  men  there 
be  who  will  weare  in  these  holes  a  small  greene  and  yellow- 
couloured  live  snake,  neere  half  a  yard  in  length,  which 
crawling  and  lapping  himself  about  his  neck  oftentymes 
familiarly,  he  sufifreeth  to  kisse  his  lippes.  Others  weare 
a  dead  ratt  tyed  by  the  tayle,  and  such  like  conundrums." 

This  is  the  earliest  use  I  find  of  our  word  "  conun- 
drum," and  the  sense  it  bears  here  may  aid  in  dis- 
covering its  origin. 

Powhatan  is  a  very  large  figure  in  early  Virginia 
history,  and  deserves  his  prominence.  He  was  an 
able  and  crafty  savage,  and  made  a  good  fight 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  whites,  but  he  was 
no  match  for  the  crafty  Smith,  nor  the  double- 
dealing  of  the  Christians.  There  is  something 
pathetic  about  the  close  of  his  life,  his  sorrow  for 
the  death  of  his  daughter  in  a  strange  land,  when 
he  saw  his  territories  overrun  by  the  invaders,  from 
whom  he  only  asked  peace,  and  the  poor  privilege 
of  moving  further  away  from  them  into  the  wilder- 
ness if  they  denied  him  peace. 

In  the  midst  of  this  savagery  Pocahontas  blooms 
like  a  sweet,  wild  rose.  She  was,  like  the  Douglas, 
"tender  and  true."  Wanting  apparently  the  cruel 
nature  of  her  race  generally,  her  heroic  qualities 
were  all  of  the  heart.  No  one  of  all  the  contempo- 
rary writers  has  anything  but  gentle  words  for  her. 
Barbarous  and  untaught  she  was  like  her  comrades, 
but  of  a  gentle  nature.     Stripped  of  all  the  fictions 


i6io-i8]        THE   STORY  OF  POCAHONTAS.  245 

which  Capt.  Smith  has  woven  into  her  story,  and 
all  the  romantic  suggestions  which  later  writers 
have  indulged  in,  she  appears,  in  the  light  of  the 
few  facts  that  industry  is  able  to  gather  concerning 
her,  as  a  pleasing  and  unrestrained  Indian  girl, 
probably  not  different  from  her  savage  sisters  in  her 
habits,  but  bright  and  gentle;  struck  with  admira- 
tion at  the  appearance  of  the  white  men,  and  easily 
moved  to  pity  them,  and  so  inclined  to  a  growing 
and  lasting  friendship  for  them;  tractable  and  apt 
to  learn  refinements;  accepting  the  new  religion 
through  love  for  those  who  taught  it,  and  finally 
becoming  in  her  maturity  a  well-balanced,  sensible, 
dignified  Christian  woman. 

According  to  the  long-accepted  story  of  Poca- 
hontas she  did  something  more  than  interfere  to 
save  from  barbarous  torture  and  death  a  stranger 
and  a  captive,  who  had  forfeited  his  life  by  shooting 
those  who  opposed  his  invasion.  In  all  times, 
among  the  most  savage  tribes  and  in  civilized 
society,  women  have  been  moved  to  heavenly  pity 
by  the  sight  of  a  prisoner,  and  risked  life  to  save 
him — the  impulse  was  as  natural  to  a  Highland  lass 
as  to  an  African  maid.  Pocahontas  went  further 
than  efforts  to  make  peace  between  the  superior  race 
and  her  own.  When  the  whites  forced  the  Indians 
to  contribute  from  their  scanty  stores  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  invaders,  and  burned  their  dwellings  and 
shot  them  on  sight  if  they  refused,  the  Indian  maid 
sympathized  with  the  exposed  whites  and  warned 
them  of  stratagems  against  them;  captured  herself 
by  a  base  violation  of  the  laws  of  hospitality,  she 
was  easily  reconciled  to  her  situation,  adopted  the 
habits  of  the  foreigners,  married  one  of  her  captors, 
and  in  peace  and  in  war  cast  in  her  lot  with  the 


246  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [1616-17 

Strangers.      History  has  not  preserved   for  us  the 
Indian  view  of  her  conduct. 

It  was  no  doubt  fortunate  for  her,  though  per- 
haps not  for  the  colony,  that  her  romantic  career 
ended  by  an  early  death,  so  that  she  always  remains 
in  history  in  the  bloom  of  youth.  She  did  not  live 
to  be  pained  by  the  contrast,  to  which  her  eyes  were 
opened,  between  her  own  and  her  adopted  people,  nor 
to  learn  what  things  could  be  done  in  the  Christian 
name  she  loved,  nor  to  see  her  husband  in  a  less 
honorable  light  than  she  left  him,  nor  to  be  involved 
in  any  way  in  the  frightful  massacre  of  1622.  If 
she  had  remained  in  England  after  the  novelty  was 
over,  she  might  have  been  subject  to  slights  and 
mortifying  neglect.  The  struggles  of  the  fighting  ' 
colony  could  have  brought  her  little  but  pain. 
Dying  v/hen  she  did  she  rounded  out  one  of  the 
prettiest  romances  of  all  history,  and  secured  for 
her  name  the  affection  of  a  great  nation,  whose 
empire  has  spared  little  that  belonged  to  her  child- 
hood and  race,  except  the  remembrance  of  her 
friendship  for  those  who  destroyed  her  people. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NEW    ENGLAND    ADVENTURES. 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH  returned  to  England 
in  the  autumn  of  1609,  wounded  in  body  and 
loaded  with  accusations  of  misconduct,  concocted 
by  his  factious  companions  in  Virginia.  There  is 
no  record  that  these  charges  were  ever  considered 
by  the  London  Company.  Indeed,  we  cannot  find 
that  the  comipany  in  those  days  ever  took  any 
action  on  the  charges  made  against  any  of  its  ser- 
vants in  Virginia.  Men  came  home  in  disgrace  and 
appeared  to  receive  neither  vindication  nor  condem- 
nation. Some  sunk  into  private  life,  and  others 
more  pushing  and  brazen,  like  Ratcliffe,  the  enemy 
of  Smith,  got  employment  again  after  a  time.  The 
affairs  of  the  company  seem  to  have  been  conducted 
with  little  order  or  justice. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  justice  of  the  charges 
against  Smith,  he  had  evidently  forfeited  the  good 
opinion  of  the  company  as  a  desirable  man  to  em- 
ploy. They  might  esteem  his  energy  and  profit  by 
his  advice  and  experience,  but  they  did  not  want 
his  services.  And  in  time  he  came  to  be  considered 
an  enemy  of  the  company. 

Unfortunately  for  biographical  purposes,  Smith's 
life  is  pretty  much  a  blank  from  1609  to  16 14. 
When  he  ceases  to  write  about  himself  he  passes 
out  of  sight.  There  are  scarcely  any  contemporary 
allusions   to  his  existence  at  this  time.     We  may 


248  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  30-35 

assume,  however,  from  our  knowledge  of  his  rest- 
lessness, ambition,  and  love  of  adventure,  that  he 
was  not  idle.  We  may  assume  that  he  besieged  the 
company  with  his  plans  for  the  proper  conduct  of 
the  settlement  of  Virginia;  that  he  talked  at  large 
in  all  companies  of  his  discoveries,  his  exploits, 
which  grew  by  the  relating,  and  of  the  prospective 
greatness  of  the  new  Britain  beyond  the  Atlantic. 
That  he  wearied  the  Council  by  his  importunity  and 
his  acquaintances  by  his  hobby,  we  can  also  sur- 
mise. No  doubt  also  he  was  considered  a  fanatic 
by  those  who  failed  to  comprehend  the  greatness 
of  his  schemes,  and  to  realize,  as  he  did,  the  impor- 
tance of  securing  the  new  empire  to  the  English 
before  it  was  occupied  by  the  Spanish  and  the 
French.  His  conceit,  his  boasting,  and  his  over- 
bearing manner,  which  no  doubt  was  one  of  the 
causes  why  he  was  unable  to  act  in  harmony  with 
the  other  adventurers  of  that  day,  all  told  against 
him.  He  was  that  most  uncomfortable  person,  a 
man  conscious  of  his  own  importance,  and  out  of 
favor  and  out  of  money. 

Yet  Smith  had  friends,  and  followers,  and  men 
who  believed  in  him.  This  is  shown  by  the  re- 
markable eulogies  in  verse  from  many  pens,  which 
he  prefixes  to  the  various  editions  of  his  many 
works.  They  seem  to  have  been  written  after  read- 
ing the  manuscripts,  and  prepared  to  accompany 
the  printed  volumes  and  tracts.  They  all  allude  to 
the  envy  and  detraction  to  which  he  was  subject, 
and  which  must  have  amounted  to  a  storm  of  abuse 
and  perhaps  ridicule;  and  they  all  tax  the  English 
vocabulary  to  extol  Smith,  his  deeds,  and  his  works. 
In  putting  forward  these  tributes  of  admiration  and 
affection,  as  well  as  in  his  constant  allusion  to  the 


1609-14]     ^'^f^  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  249 

ill  requital  of  his  services,  we  see  a  man  fighting  for 
his  reputation,  and  conscious  of  the  necessity  of 
doing  so.  He  is  ever  turning  back,  in  whatever  he 
writes,  to  rehearse  his  exploits  and  to  defend  his 
motives. 

The  London  to  which  Smith  returned  was  the 
London  of  Shakespeare's  day;  a  city  dirty,  with  ill- 
paved  streets  unlighted  at  night,  no  sidewalks,  foul 
gutters,  wooden  houses,  gable  ends  to  the  street,  set 
thickly  with  small  windows  from  which  slops  and 
refuse  were  at  any  moment  of  the  day  or  night 
liable  to  be  emptied  upon  the  heads  of  the  passers 
by;  petty  little  shops  in  which  were  beginning  to 
be  displayed  the  silks  and  luxuries  of  the  continent; 
a  city  crowded  and  growing  rapidly,  subject  to  pes- 
tilences and  liable  to  sweeping  conflagrations.  The 
Thames  had  no  bridges,  and  hundreds  of  boats 
plied  between  London  side  and  Southwark,  where 
were  most  of  the  theaters,  the  bull-baitings,  the  bear- 
fighting,  the  public  gardens,  the  residences  of  the 
hussies,  and  other  amusements  that  Bankside,  the 
resort  of  all  classes  bent  on  pleasure,  furnished  high 
or  low.  At  no  time  before  or  since  was  there  such 
fantastical  fashion  in  dress,  both  in  cut  and  gay 
colors,  nor  more  sumptuousness  in  costume  or 
luxury  in  display  among  the  upper  classes,  and  such 
squalor  in  low  life.  The  press  teemed  with  tracts 
and  pamphlets,  written  in  language  "  as  plain  as  a 
pikestaff,"  against  the  immoralities  of  the  theaters, 
those  *'  seminaries  of  vice,"  and  calling  down  the 
judgment  of  God  upon  the  cost  and  the  monstrosi- 
ties of  the  dress  of  both  men  and  women;  while  the 
town  roared  on  its  way,  warned  by  sermons,  and  in- 
structed in  its  chosen  path  by  such  plays  and  masques 
as  Ben  Jonson's  "  Pleasure  reconciled  to  Virtue," 


250  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  \I£x.  35 

The  town  swarmed  with  idlers,  and  with  gallants 
who  wanted  advancement  but  were  unwilling  to 
adventure  their  ease  to  obtain  it.  There  was  much 
lounging  in  apothecaries'  shops  to  smoke  tobacco, 
gossip,  and  hear  the  news.  We  may  be  sure  that 
Smith  found  many  auditors  for  his  adventures  and 
his  complaints.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  interest 
in  the  New  World,  but  mainly  still  as  a  place  where 
gold  and  other  wealth  might  be  got  without  much 
labor,  and  as  a  possible  short  cut  to  the  South  Sea 
and  Cathay.  The  vast  number  of  Londoners  whose 
names  appear  in  the  second  Virginia  charter  shows 
the  readiness  of  traders  to  seek  profit  in  adventure. 
The  stir  for  wider  freedom  in  religion  and  govern- 
ment increased  with  the  activity  of  exploration  and 
colonization,  and  one  reason  why  James  finally 
annulled  the  Virginia  charter  was  because  he  re- 
garded the  meetings  of  the  London  Company  as 
opportunities  of  sedition. 

Smith  is  altogether  silent  about  his  existence  at 
this  time.  We  do  not  hear  of  him  till  161 2,  when 
his  "  Map  of  Virginia"  with  his  description  of  the 
country  was  published  at  Oxford.  The  map  had 
been  published  before:  it  was  sent  home  with  at 
least  a  portion  of  the  description  of  Virginia.  In 
an  appendix  appeared  (as  has  been  said)  a  series  of 
narrations  of  Smith's  exploits,  covering  the  time  he 
was  in  Virginia,  written  by  his  companions,  edited 
by  his  friend  Dr.  Symonds,  and  carefully  overlooked 
by  himself. 

Failing  to  obtain  employment  by  the  Virginia 
company.  Smith  turned  his  attention  to  New  Eng- 
land, but  neither  did  the  Plymouth  company  avail 
themselves  of  his  service.  At  last  in  1614  he  per- 
suaded some  London  merchants  to  fit  him  out  for  a 


I6i4]  NEW  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  2$ I 

private  trading  adventure  to  the  coast  of  New  Eng- 
land. Accordingly  with  two  ships,  at  the  charge  of 
Capt.  Marmaduke  Roydon,  Capt.  George  Langam, 
Mr.  John  Buley,  and  William  Skelton,  merchants, 
he  sailed  from  the  Downs  on  the  3d  of  March,  1614, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  April  "chanced  to  arrive 
in  New  England,  a  part  of  America  at  the  Isle  of 
Monahiggan  in  43^  of  Northerly  latitude."  This 
was  within  the  territory  appropriated  to  the  second 
(the  Plymouth)  colony  by  the  patent  of  1606,  which 
gave  leave  of  settlement  between  the  38th  and  44th 
parallels. 

Smith's  connection  with  New  England  is  very 
slight,  and  mainly  that  of  an  author,  one  who 
labored  for  many  years  to  excite  interest  in  it  by  his 
writings.  He  named  several  points,  and  made  a 
map  of  such  portion  of  the  coast  as  he  saw,  which 
was  changed  from  time  to  time  by  other  observa- 
tions. He  had  a  remarkable  eye  for  topography, 
as  is  especially  evident  by  his  map  of  Virginia. 
This  New  England  coast  is  roughly  indicated  in 
Venazzani's  plot  of  1524,  and  better  on  Merca- 
tor's  of  a  few  years  later,  and  in  Ortelius's  "Thea- 
trum  Orbis  Terarum"  of  1570;  but  in  Smith's  map 
we  have  for  the  first  time  a  fair  approach  to  the  real 
contour. 

Of  Smith's  English  predecessors  on  this  coast  there 
is  no  room  here  to  speak.  Gosnold  had  described 
Elizabeth's  Isles,  explorations  and  settlements  had 
been  made  on  the  coast  of  Maine  by  Popham  and 
Weymouth,  but  Smith  claims  the  credit  of  not  only 
drawing  the  first  fair  map  of  the  coast,  but  of  giving 
the  name  ''New  England"  to  what  had  passed  un- 
der the  general  names  of  Virginia,  Canada,  Norum- 
baga,  etc. 


252  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  35 

Smith  published  his  description  of  New  Eng- 
land June  i8th,  1616,  and  it  is  in  that  we  must  fol- 
low his  career.  It  is  dedicated  to  the  "  high,  hopeful 
Charles,  Prince  of  Great  Britain,"  and  is  prefaced 
by  an  address  to  the  King's  Council  for  all  the  plan- 
tations, and  another  to  all  the  adventurers  into 
New  England.  The  addresses,  as  usual,  call  atten- 
tion to  his  own  merits,  "  Little  honey  [he  writes] 
hath  that  hive,  where  there  are  more  drones  than 
bees;  and  miserable  is  that  land  where  more  are 
idle  than  are  well  employed.  If  the  endeavors  of 
these  vermin  be  acceptable,  I  hope  mine  may  be 
excusable:  though  I  confess  it  were  more  proper  for 
me  to  be  doing  what  I  say  than  writing  what  I  know. 
Had  I  returned  rich  I  could  not  have  erred;  now 
having  only  such  food  as  came  to  my  net,  I  must  be 
taxed.  But,  I  would  my  taxers  were  as  ready  to 
adventure  their  purses  as  I,  purse,  life,  and  all  I 
have;  or  as  diligent  to  permit  the  charge,  as  I  know 
they  are  vigilant  to  reap  the  fruits  of  my  labors." 
The  value  of  the  fisheries  he  had  demonstrated  by 
his  catch;  and  he  says,  looking,  as  usual,  to  large 
results,  "  but  because  I  speak  so  much  of  fishing, 
if  any  mistake  me  for  such  a  devote  fisher,  as  I 
dream  of  nought  else,  they  mistake  me.  I  know  a 
ring  of  gold  from  a  grain  of  barley  as  well  as  a 
goldsmith;  and  nothing  is  there  to  be  had  which 
fishing  doth  hinder,  but  further  us  to  obtain." 

John  Smith  first  appears  on  the  New  England 
coast  as  a  whale  fisher.     The  only  reference  to  his 

(  being  in  America  in  Josselyn's  "  Chronological 
Observations  of  America  "  is  under  the  wrong  year, 
1608:     "  Capt.  John  Smith  fished  now  for  whales  at 

'    Monhiggen."     He  says:     "  Our  plot  there  was   to 
take  whales,  and  made  tryall  of  a  Myne  of  gold  and 


I6i4]  NEW  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  253 

copper;"  thesfe  failing  they  were  to  get  fish  and  furs. 
Of  gold  there  had  been  little  expectation,  and  (he 
goes  on)  "  we  found  this  whale  fishing  a  costly  con- 
clusion; we  saw  many,  and  spent  much  time  in 
chasing  them;  but  could  not  kill  any;  they  being  a 
kind  of  Jubartes,  and  not  the  whale  that  yeeldes 
finnes  and  oyle  as  we  expected."  They  then  turned 
their  attention  to  smaller  fish,  but  owing  to  their 
late  arrival  and  "long  lingering  about  the  whale" — 
chasing  a  whale  that  they  could  not  kill  because 
it  was  not  the  right  kind — the  best  season  for 
fishing  was  passed.  Nevertheless,  they  secured 
some  40,000  cod — the  figure  is  naturally  raised  to 
60,000  when  Smith  retells  the  story  fifteen  years 
afterwards. 

But  our  hero  was  a  born  explorer,  and  could  not 
be  content  with  not  examining  the  strange  coast 
upon  which  he  found  himself.  Leaving  his  sailors 
to  catch  cod,  he  took  eight  or  nine  men  in  a  small 
boat,  and  cruised  along  the  coast,  trading  wherever 
he  could  for  furs,  of  which  he  obtained  above  a 
thousand  beaver  skins;  but  his  chance  to  trade  was 
limited  by  the  French  settlements  in  the  east,  by 
the  presence  of  one  of  Popham's  ships  opposite 
Monhegan,  on  the  main,  and  by  a  couple  of  French 
vessels  to  the  westward.  Having  examined  the 
coast  from  Penobscot  to  Cape  Cod,  and  gathered  a 
profitable  harvest  from  the  sea,  Smith  returned  in 
his  vessel,  reaching  the  Downs  within  six  months 
after  his  departure.  This  was  his  whole  experience 
in  New  England,  which  ever  afterwards  he  regarded 
as  particularly  his  discovery,  and  spoke  of  as  one  of 
his  children,  Virginia  being  the  other. 

With  the  other  vessel  Smith  had  trouble.  He 
accuses  its  master,  Thomas  Hunt,  of  attempting  to 


254  CAPTAIN- JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  35 

rob  him  of  his  plots  and  observations^,  and  to  leave 
him  "alone  on  a  desolate  isle,  to  the  fury  of  famine, 
and  all  other  extremities."  After  Smith's  depar- 
ture the  rascally  Hunt  decoyed  twenty-seven  un- 
suspecting savages  on  board  his  ship  and  carried 
them  off  to  Spain,  where  he  sold  them  as  slaves. 
Hunt  sold  his  furs  at  a  great  profit.  Smith's  cargo 
also  paid  well:  in  his  letter  to  Lord  Bacon  in  16 18 
he  says  that  with  forty-five  men  he  had  cleared 
^^1500  in  less  than  three  months  on  a  cargo  of  dried 
fish  and  beaver  skins — a  pound  at  that  date  had 
five  times  the  purchasing  power  of  a  pound  now. 

The  explorer  first  landed  on  Monhegan,  a  small 
island  in  sight  of  which  in  the  war  of  181 2  occurred 
the  lively  little  sea-fight  of  the  American  Wasp  and 
the  British  Frolic,  in  which  the  Wasp  was  the  victor, 
but  directly  after,  with  her  prize,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  an  English  seventy-four. 

He  made  certainly  a  most  remarkable  voyage  in 
his  open  boat.  Between  Penobscot  and  Cape  Cod 
(which  he  called  Cape  James)  he  says  he  saw  forty 
several  habitations,  and  sounded  about  twenty-five 
excellent  harbors.  Although  Smith  accepted  the 
geographical  notion  of  his  time,  and  thought  that 
Florida  adjoined  India,  he  declared  that  Virginia 
was  not  an  island,  but  part  of  a  great  continent, 
and  he  comprehended  something  of  the  vastness  of 
the  country  he  was  coasting  along,  "dominions 
which  stretch  themselves  into  the  main,  God  dotli 
know  how  many  thousand  miles,  of  which  one 
could  no  more  guess  the  extent  and  products  than 
a  stranger  sailing  betwixt  England  and  France 
could  tell  what  was  in  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  Bo- 
hemia, Hungary,  and  the  rest."  And  he  had  the 
prophetic  vision,  which  he  more  than  once  refers 


i6i4]  NEW  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  255 

to,  of  one  of  the  greatest  empires  of  the  world  that 
would  one  day  arise  here.  Contrary  to  the  opinion 
that  prevailed  then  and  for  years  after,  he  declared 
also  that  New  England  was  not  an  island. 

Smith  describes  with  considerable  particularity 
the  coast,  giving  the  names  of  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  cataloguing  the  native  productions,  vegetable 
and  animal.  He  bestows  his  favorite  name§  liber- 
ally upon  points  and  islands — few  of  which  were 
accepted.  Cape  Ann  he  called  from  his  charming 
Turkish  benefactor,  "  Cape  Tragabigzanda;"  the 
three  islands  in  front  of  it,  the  "  Three  Turks' 
Heads;"  and  the  Isles  of  Shoals  he  simply  describes: 
"  Smyth's  Isles  are  a  heape  together,  none  neare 
them,  against  Acconimticus."  Cape  Cod,  which  ap- 
pears upon  all  the  maps  before  Smith's  visit  as 
"  Sandy"  cape,  he  says  "  is  only  a  headland  of  high 
hills  of  sand,  overgrown  with  shrubbie  pines,  hurts 
[whorts,  whortleberries]  and  such  trash;  but  an 
excellent  harbor  for  all  weathers.  This  Cape  is 
made  by  the  maine  Sea  on  the  one  side,  and  a  great 
bay  on  the  other  in  the  form  of  a  sickle." 

A  large  portion  of  this  treatise  on  New  England 
is  devoted  to  an  argument  to  induce  the  English  to 
found  a  permanent  colony  there,  of  which  Smith 
shows  that  he  would  be  the  proper  leader.  The 
main  staple  for  the  present  would  be  fish,  and  he 
shows  how  Holland  has  become  powerful  by  her 
fisheries  and  the  training  of  hardy  sailors.  The 
fishery  would  support  a  colony  until  it  had  ob- 
tained a  good  foothold,  and  control  of  these  fisher- 
ies would  bring  more  profit  to  England  than  any 
other  occupation.  There  are  other  reasons  than 
gain  that  should  induce  in  England  the  large  ambi- 
tion  of  founding  a  great  state,  reasons  of  religion 


256  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [^t.  35 

and  humanity;  erecting  towns,  peopling  countries, 
informing  the  ignorant,  reforming  things  unjust, 
teaching  virtue,  finding  employment  for  the  idle, 
and  giving  to  the  mother  country  a  kingdom  to  at- 
tend her.  But  he  does  not  expect  the  English  to 
indulge  in  such  noble  ambitions  unless  he  can  show 
a  profit  in  them. 

'■'■  I  have  not  [he  says]  been  so  ill  bred  but  I  have 
tasted  of  plenty  and  pleasure,  as  well  as  want  and 
misery;  nor  doth  a  necessity  yet,  nor  occasion  of 
discontent,  force  me  to  these  endeavors;  nor  am  I 
ignorant  that  small  thank  I  shall  have  for  my  pains; 
or  that  many  would  have  the  world  imagine  them 
to  be  of  great  judgment,  that  can  but  blemish  these 
my  designs,  by  their  witty  objections  and  detrac- 
tions; yet  (I  hope)  my  reasons  and  my  deeds  will  so 
prevail  with  some,  that  I  shall  not  want  employ- 
ment in  these  affairs  to  make  the  most  blind  see  his 
own  senselessness  and  incredulity;  hoping  that  gain 
will  make  them  affect  that  which  religion,  charity 
and  the  common  good  cannot.  .  .  .  For  I  am 
not  so  simple  to  think  that  ever  any  other  motive 
than  wealth  will  ever  erect  there  a  Commonwealth; 
or  draw  company  from  their  ease  and  humours  at 
home,  to  stay  in  New  England  to  effect  any  pur- 
pose." 

But  lest  the  toils  of  the  new  settlement  should 
affright  his  readers,  our  author  draws  an  idyllic  pic- 
ture of  the  simple  pleasures  which  nature  and  lib- 
erty afford  here  freely,  but  which  cost  so  dearly  in 
England.  Those  who  seek  vain  pleasure  in  Eng- 
land take  more  pains  to  enjoy  it  than  they  would 
spend  in  New  England  to  gain  wealth,  and  yet  have 
not  half  such  sweet  content.  What  pleasure  can  be 
more,  he  exclaims,  when  men  are  tired  of  planting 


i6i5]  NEW  ENGLAND   ADVENTURES.  25/ 

vines  and  fruits  and  ordering  gardens,  orchards  and 
building  to  their  mind,  than  "  to  recreate  themselves 
before  their  owne  doore,  in  their  owne  boates  upon 
the  Sea,  where  man,  woman  and  child,  with  a  small 
hooke  and  line,  by  angling,  may  take  divers  sorts  of 
excellent  fish  at  their  pleasures  ?  And  is  it  not 
pretty  sport,  to  pull  up  two  pence,  six  pence,  and 
twelve  pence  as  fast  as  you  can  hale  and  veere  a 
line  ?  .  .  .  And  what  sport  doth  yield  more 
pleasing  content,  and  less  hurt  or  charge  than  ang- 
ling with  a  hooke,  and  crossing  the  sweet  ayre  from 
Isle  to  Isle,  over  the  silent  streams  of  a  calme  Sea  ? 
wherein  the  most  curious  may  finde  pleasure,  profit 
and  content." 

Smith  made  a  most  attractive  picture  of  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  and  the  fruitfulness  of  the  country. 
Nothing  was  too  trivial  to  be  mentioned.  "  There 
are  certain  red  berries  called  Alkermes  which  is 
worth  ten  shillings  a  pound,  but  of  these  hath  been 
sold  for  thirty  or  forty  shillings  the  pound,  may 
yearly  be  gathered  a  good  quantity."  John  Josse- 
lyn,  who  was  much  of  the  time  in  New  England 
from  1638  to  167 1,  and  saw  more  marvels  there  than 
anybody  else  ever  imagined,  says,  *'  I  have  sought 
for  this  berry  he  speaks  of,  as  a  man  should  for  a 
needle  in  a  bottle  of  hay,  but  could  never  light  upon 
it;  unless  that  kind  of  Solomon's  seal  called  by  the 
English  treacle-berry  should  be  it." 

Towards  the  last  of  August,  16 14,  Smith  was  back 
at  Plymouth.  He  had  now  a  project  of  a  colony 
which  he  imparted  to  his  friend  Sir  Ferdinand 
Gorges.  It  is  difficult  from  Smith's  various  accounts 
to  say  exactly  what  happened  to  him  next.  It 
would  appear  that  he  declined  to  go  with  an  expe- 
dition of  four  ships  which  the  Virginia  company  dis- 


258  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  36 

patched  in  16 15,  and  incurred  their  ill-will  by  refus- 
ing, but  he  considered  himself  attached  to  the  west- 
ern or  Plymouth  company.  Still  he  experienced 
many  delays  from  them:  they  promised  four  ships 
to  be  ready  at  Plymouth;  on  his  arrival  "he  found 
no  such  matter,"  and  at  last  he  embarked  in  a  pri- 
vate expedition,  to  found  a  colony  at  the  expense  of 
Gorges,  Dr.  Sutliffe,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  and  a  few 
gentlemen  in  London,  In  January,  1615,  he  sailed 
from  Plymouth  with  a  ship  of  200  tons,  and  another 
of  5c.  His  intention  was,  after  the  fishing  was  over, 
to  remain  in  New  England  wdth  only  fifteen  men 
and  begin  a  colony. 

These  hopes  were  frustrated.  When  only  one 
hundred  and  twenty  leagues  out  all  the  masts  ,of 
his  vessels  were  carried  away  in  a  storm,  and  it  was 
only  by  diligent  pumping  that  he  was  able  to  keep 
his  craft  afloat  and  put  back  to  Plymouth.  Thence 
on  the  24th  of  June  he  made  another  start  in  a 
vessel  of  sixty  tons,  with  thirty  men.  But  ill-luck 
still  attended  him.  He  had  a  queer  adventure  with 
pirates.  Lest  the  envious  world  should  not  believe 
his  own  story.  Smith  had  Baker,  his  steward,  and 
several  of  his  crew  examined  before  a  magistrate  at 
Plymouth,  December  8,  i6i5,who  support  his  story 
by  their  testimony  up  to  a  certain  point. 

It  appears  that  he  was  chased  two  days  by  one 
Fry,  an  English  pirate,  in  a  greatly  superior  vessel, 
heavily  armed  and  manned.  By  reason  of  the  foul 
weather  the  pirate  could  not  board  Smith,  and  his 
master,  mate,  and  pilot.  Chambers,  Minter,  and 
Digby,  importuned  him  to  surrender,  and  that  he 
should  send  a  boat  to  the  pirate,  as  Fry  had  no 
boat.  This  singular  proposal  Smith  accepted  on 
condition  Fry  would  not  take  anything  that  would 


i6i5]  NEW  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  259 

cripple  his  voyage,  or  send  more  men  aboard  (Smith 
furnishing  the  boat)  than  he  allowed.  Baker  con- 
fessed that  the  quartermaster  and  Chambers  re- 
ceived gold  of  the  pirates,  for  what  purpose  it  does 
not  appear.  They  came  on  board,  but  Smith  would 
not  come  out  of  his  cabin  to  entertain  them,  "al- 
though a  great  many  of  them  had  been  his  sailors, 
and  for  his  love  would  have  wafted  us  to  the  Isle  of 
Flowers." 

Having  got  rid  of  the  pirate  Fry  by  this  singular 
manner  of  receiving  gold  from  him.  Smith's  vessel 
was  next  chased  by  two  French  pirates  at  Fayal. 
Chambers,  Minter,  and  Digby  again  desired  Smith 
to  yield,  but  he  threatened  to  blow  up  his  ship  if 
they  did  not  stand  to  the  defense;  and  so  they  got 
clear  of  the  French  pirates.  But  more  were  to 
come. 

At  "  Flowers"  they  were  chased  by  four  French 
men-of-war.  Again  Chambers,  Minter,  and  Digby 
importuned  Smith  to  yield,  and  upon  the  considera- 
tion that  he  could  speak  French,  and  that  they  were 
Protestants  of  Rochelle  and  had  the  King's  com- 
mission to  take  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  and  pirates, 
Smith,  with  some  of  his  company,  went  on  board 
one  of  the  French  ships.  The  next  day  the  French 
plundered  Smith's  vessel  and  distributed  his  crew 
among  their  ships,  and  for  a  week  employed  his 
boat  in  chasing  all  the  ships  that  came  in  sight.  At 
the  end  of  this  bout  they  surrendered  her  again  to 
her  crew,  with  victuals  but  no  weapons.  Smith  ex- 
horted his  officers  to  proceed  on  their  voyage  for 
fish,  either  to  New  England  or  Newfoundland. 
This  the  officers  declined  to  do  at  first,  but  the 
soldiers  on  board  compelled  them,  and  thereupon 
Capt.  Smith  busied  himself  in  collecting  from  the 


26o  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  36 

French  fleet  and  sending  on  board  his  bark  various 
commodities  that  belonged  to  her — powder,  match, 
books,  instruments,  his  sword  and  dagger,  bedding, 
aqua  vitse,  his  commission,  apparel,  and  many  other 
things.  These  articles  Chambers  and  the  others 
divided  among  themselves,  leaving  Smith,  who  was 
still  on  board  the  Frenchman,  only  his  waistcoat 
and  breeches.  The  next  day,  the  weather  being 
foul,  they  ran  so  near  the  Frenchman  as  to  endan- 
ger their  yards,  and  Chambers  called  to  Capt. 
Smith  to  come  aboard  or  he  would  leave  him. 
Smith  ordered  him  to  send  a  boat;  Chambers  re- 
plied that  his  boat  was  split,  which  was  a  lie,  and 
told  him  to  com.e  off  in  the  Frenchman's  boat. 
Smith  said  he  could  not  command  that,  and  so 
they  parted.  The  English  bark  returned  to  Plym- 
outh, and  Smith  was  left  on  board  the  French 
man-of-war. 

Smith  himself  says  that  Chambers  had  persuaded 
the  French  admiral  that  if  Smith  was  let  to  go  on 
his  boat  he  would  revenge  himself  on  the  French 
fisheries  on  the  Banks. 

For  over  two  months,  according  to  his  narration. 
Smith  was  kept  on  board  the  Frenchman,  cruising 
about  for  prizes,  "  to  manage  their  fight  against 
the  Spaniards,  and  be  in  a  prison  when  they  took 
any  English."  One  of  their  prizes  was  a  sugar 
caravel  from  Brazil;  another  was  a  West  Indian 
worth  two  hundred  thousand  crowns,  which  had  on 
board  fourteen  coffers  of  wedges  of  silver,  eight 
thousand  royals  of  eight,  and  six  coffers  of  the 
King  of  Spain's  treasure,  besides  the  pillage  and 
rich  coffers  of  many  rich  passengers.  ^The  French 
captain,  breaking  his  promise  to  put  Smith  ashore 
at  Fayal,  at  length  sent  him  towards  France  on  the 


I6i5]  NEW  ENGLAND  ADVENTURES.  261 

sugar  caravel.  When  near  the  coast,  in  a  night  of 
terrible  storm,  Smith  seized  a  boat  and  escaped. 
It  was  a  tempest  that  wrecked  all  the  vessels  on 
the  coast,  and  for  twelve  hours  Smith  was  drifting 
about  in  his  open  boat,  in  momentary  expectation 
of  sinking,  until  he  was  cast  upon  the  oozy  isle  of 
"  Charowne,"  where  the  fowlers  picked  him  up  half 
dead  with  water,  cold,  and  hunger,  and  he  got  to 
Rochelle,  where  he  made  complaint  to  the  Judge  of 
Admiralty.  Here  he  learned  that  the  rich  prize  had 
been  wrecked  in  the  storm  and  the  captain  and  half 
the  crew  drowned.  But  from  the  wreck  of  this  great 
prize  thirty-six  thousand  crowns'  worth  of  jewels 
came  ashore.  For  his  share  in  this  Smith  put  in 
his  claim  with  the  English  ambassador  at  Bordeaux. 
The  Captain  was  hospitably  treated  by  the  French- 
men. He  met  there  his  old  friend  Master  Cramp- 
ton,  and  he  says:  "I  was  more  beholden  to  the 
Frenchmen  that  escaped  drowning  in  the  man-of- 
war.  Madam  Chanoyes  of  Rotchell,  and  the  lawyers 
of  Burdeaux,  than  all  the  rest  of  my  countrymen  I 
met  in  France."  While  he  was  waiting  there  to  get 
justice,  he  saw  the  "arrival  of  the  King's  great 
marriage  brought  from  Spain."  This  is  all  his 
reference  to  the  arrival  of  Anne  of  Austria,  eldest 
daughter  of  Philip  III.,  who  had  been  betrothed  to 
Louis  XIII.  in  1612,  one  of  the  double  Spanish  mar- 
riages which  made  such  a  commotion  in  France. 

Leaving  his  business  in  France  unsettled  (forever). 
Smith  returned  to  Plymouth,  to  find  his  reputation 
covered  with  infamy  and  his  clothes,  books,  and 
arms  divided  among  the  mutineers  of  his  boat.  The 
chiefest  of  these  he  "  laid  by  the  heels,"  as  usual, 
and  the  others  confessed  and  told  the  singular  tale 
we  have   outlined.     It   needs   no   comment,  except 


262  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  36 

that  Smith  had  a  facility  for  unlucky  adventures 
unequaled  among  the  uneasy  spirits  of  his  age.  Yet 
he  was  as  buoyant  as  a  cork,  and  emerged  from 
every  disaster  with  more  enthusiasm  for  himself 
and  for  new  ventures.  Among  the  many  glowing 
tributes  to  himself  in  verse  that  Smith  prints  with 
this  description  is  one  signed  by  a  soldier,  Edw. 
Robinson,  which  begins: 

"  Oft  thou  hast  led,  when  I  brought  up  the  Rere, 
In  bloody  wars  where  thousands  have  been  slaine." 

This  common  soldier,  who  cannot  help  breaking 
out  in  poetry  when  he  thinks  of  Smith,  is  made  to 
say  that  Smith  was  his  captain  "  in  the  fierce  wars 
of  Transylvania,"  and  he  apostrophizes  him: 

"  Thou  that  to  passe  the  worlds  foure  parts  dost  deeme 
No  more,  than  t'were  to  goe  to  bed  or  drinke, 
And  all  thou  yet  hast  done  thou  dost  esteeme 
As  nothing. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

"  For  mee:  I  not  commend  but  much  admire 
Thy  England  yet  unknown  to  passers  by-her, 
For  it  will  praise  itselfe  in  spight  of  me: 
Thou,  it.  it,,  thou,  to  all  posteritie." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

NEW  England's  trials. 

SMITH  was  not  cast  down  by  his  reverses.  No 
sooner  had  he  laid  his  latest  betrayers  by  the 
heels  than  he  set  himself  resolutely  to  obtain  money 
and  means  for  establishing  a  colony  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  to  this  project  and  the  cultivation  in 
England  of  interest  in  New  England  he  devoted 
the  rest  of  his  life. 

His  Map  and  Description  of  New  England  was 
published  in  1616,  and  he  became  a  colporteur  of 
this,  beseeching  everywhere  a  hearing  for  his  noble 
scheme.  It  might  have  been  in  161 7,  while  Poca- 
hontas was  about  to  sail  for  Virginia,  or  perhaps 
after  her  death,  that  he  was  again  in  Plymouth, 
provided  with  three  good  ships,  but  wind-bound  for 
three  months,  so  that  the  season  being  past,  his  de- 
sign was  frustrated,  and  his  vessels,  without  him, 
made  a  fishing  expedition  to  Newfoundland, 

It  must  have  been  in  the  summer  of  this  year 
that  he  was  at  Plymouth  with  divers  of  his  personal 
friends,  and  only  a  hundred  pounds  among  them 
all.  He  had  acquainted  the  nobility  with  his  proj- 
ects, and  was  afraid  to  see  the  Prince  Royal  before 
he  had  accomplished  anything,  "but  their  greeX 
promises  were  nothing  but  air  to  prepare  the  voyage 
against  the  next  year."  He  spent  that  summer  in 
the  west  of  England,  visiting  "  Bristol,  Exeter,  Bas- 
table,  Bodman,  Perin,  Foy,  Milborow,  Saltash,  Dart- 


264  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  {^t.  43 

mouth,  Absom,  Pattnesse,  and  the  most  of  the  gentry 
in  Cornwall  and  Devonshire,  giving  them  books 
and  maps,"  and  inciting  them  to  help  his  enter- 
prise. 

So  well  did  he  succeed,  he  says,  that  they  prom- 
ised him  twenty  sail  of  ships  to  go  with  him  the 
next  year,  and  to  pay  him  for  his  pains  and  former 
losses.  The  western  commissioners,  in  behalf  of 
the  company,  contracted  with  him,  under  indented 
articles,  ''to  be  admiral  of  that  country  during  my 
life,  and  in  the  renewing  of  the  letters-patent  so  to 
be  nominated;"  half  the  profits  of  the  enterprise 
to  be  theirs,  and  half  to  go  to  Smith  and  his  com- 
panions. 

Nothing  seems  to  have  come  out  of  this  promis- 
ing induction  except  the  title  of  "  Admiral  of  New 
England,"  which  Smith  straightway  assumed  and 
wore  all  his  life,  styling  himself  on  the  title-page  of 
everything  he  printed,  "  Sometime  Governor  of 
Virginia  and  Admiral  of  New  England."  As  the 
generous  Captain  had  before  this  time  assumed  this 
title,  the  failure  of  the  contract  could  not  much 
annoy  him.  He  had  about  as  good  right  to  take 
the  sounding:  name  of  Admiral  as  merchants  of  the 
west  of  England  had  to  propose  to  give  it  to  him. 

The  years  wore  away,  and  Smith  was  beseeching 
aid,  republishing  his  works,  which  grew  into  new 
forms  with  each  issue,  and  no  doubt  making  him- 
self a  bore  wherever  he  was  known.  The  first 
edition  of  "  New  England's  Trials" — by  which  he 
meant  the  various  trials  and  attempts  to  settle  New 
England — was  published  in  1620.  It  was  to  some 
extent  a  repetition  of  his  "  Description  "  of  1616.  In 
it  he  made  no  reference  to  Pocahontas.  But  in  the 
edition    of   1622,   which    is    dedicated    to    Charles, 


i622]  '      NEW  ENGLAND'S    TRIALS.  265 

Prince  of  Wales,  and  considerably  enlarged,  he 
drops  into  this  remark  about  his  experience  at 
Jamestown:  "It  is  true  in  our  greatest  extremitie 
they  shot  me,  slue  three  of  my  men,  and  by  the 
folly  of  them  that  fled  tooke  me  prisoner;  yet  God 
made  Pocahontas  the  king's  daughter  the  meanes 
to  deliver  me:  and  thereby  taught  me  to  know  their 
treacheries  to  preserve  the  rest.  [This  is  evidently 
an  allusion  to  the  warning  Pocahontas  gave  him  at 
Werowocomoco.]  It  was  also  my  chance  in  single 
combat  to  take  the  king  of  Paspahegh  prisoner,  and 
by  keeping  him,  forced  his  subjects  to  work  in 
chains  till  I  made  all  the  country  pay  contribution, 
having  little  else  whereon  to  live." 

This  was  written  after  he  had  heard  of  the  hor- 
rible massacre  of  1622  at  Jamestown,  and  he  cannot 
resist  the  temptation  to  draw  a  contrast  between 
the  present  and  his  own  management.  He  explains 
that  the  Indians  did  not  kill  the  English  because 
they  were  Christians,  but  to  get  their  weapons 
and  commodities.  How  different  it  was  when 
he  was  in  Virginia.  "  I  kept  that  country  with  but 
38,  and  had  not  to  eat  but  what  we  had  from  the 
savages.  When  I  had  ten  men  able  to  go  abroad, 
our  commonwealth  was  very  strong:  with  such  a 
number  I  ranged  that  unknown  country  14  weeks: 
I  had  but  18  to  subdue  them  all."  This  is  better 
than  Sir  John  Falstaff.  But  he  goes  on:  "When  I 
first  went  to  those  desperate  designes  it  cost  me 
many  a  forgotten  pound  to  hire  men  to  go,  and 
procrastination  caused  more  run  away  than  went." 
"  Twise  in  that  time  I  was  President."  [It  will  be 
remembered  that  about  the  close  of  his  first  year  he 
gave  up  the  command,  for  form's  sake,  to  Capt. 
Martin,  for  three   hours,  and  then  took   it   again.] 


266  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  43-44 

*'  To  range  this  country  of  New  England  in  like 
manner,  I  had  but  eight,  as  is  said,  and  amongst 
their  bruite  conditions  I  met  many  of  their  silly 
encounters,  and  without  any  hurt,  God  be  thanked." 
The  valiant  Captain  had  come  by  this  time  to  re- 
gard himself  as  the  inventor  and  discoverer  of  Vir- 
ginia and  New  England,  which  were  explored  and 
settled  at  the  cost  of  his  private  pocket,  and  which 
he  is  not  ashamed  to  say  cannot  fare  well  in  his 
absence.  Smith,  with  all  his  good  opinion  of  him- 
self, could  not  have  imagined  how  delicious  his 
character  would  be  to  readers  in  after-times.  As 
he  goes  on  he  warms  up:  "Thus  you  may  see 
plainly  the  yearly  success  from  New  England,  by 
Virginia,  which  hath  been  so  costly  to  this  king- 
dom and  so  dear  to  me.  .  .  .  By  that  acquaintance 
I  have  with  them  I  may  call  them  my  children  [he 
spent  between  two  and  three  months  on  the  New 
England  coast]  for  they  have  been  my  wife,  my 
hawks,  my  hounds,  my  cards,  my  dice,  and  total 
my  best  content,  as  indifferent  to  my  heart  as  my 
left  hand  to  my.  right,  .  .  .  Were  there  not  one 
Englishman  remaining  I  would  yet  begin  again  as 
I  did  at  the  first;  not  that  I  have  any  secret  encour- 
agement for  any  I  protest,  more  than  lamentable 
experiences;  for  all  their  discoveries  I  can  yet  hear 
of  are  but  pigs  of  my  sowe:  nor  more  strange  to  me 
than  to  hear  one  tell  me  he  hath  gone  from  Billin- 
gate  and  discovered  Greenwich!" 

As  to  the  charge  that  he  was  unfortunate,  which 
we  should  think  might  have  become  current  from 
the  Captain's  own  narratives,  he  tells  his  maligners 
that  if  they  had  spent  their  time  as  he  had  done, 
they  would  rather  believe  in  God  than  in  their  own 
calculations,  and  peradventure  might  have  had  to 


1624]  NEW  ENGLAND'S   TRIALS.  267 

give  as  bad  an  account  of  their  actions.  It  is 
strange  they  should  tax  him  before  they  have  tried 
what  he  tried  in  Asia,  Europe  and  America,  where 
he  never  needed  to  importune  for  a  reward,  nor  ever 
could  learn  to  beg:  "  These  sixteen  years  I  have 
spared  neither  pains  nor  money,  according  to  my 
ability,  first  to  procure  his  majesty's  letters  patent, 
and  a  Company  here  to  be  the  means  to  raise  a  com- 
pany to  go  with  me  to  Virginia  [this  is  the  expedi- 
tion of  1606  in  which  he  was  without  command]  as 
is  said:  which  beginning  here  and  there  cost  me 
near  five  years  work,  and  more  than  500  pounds  of 
my  own  estate,  besides  all  the  dangers,  miseries 
and  encumbrances  I  endured  gratis,  where  I  stayed 
till  I  left  500  better  provided  than  ever  I  was:  from 
which  blessed  Virgin  (ere  I  returned)  sprung  the 
fortunate  habitation  of  Somer  Isles."  "  Ere  I  re- 
turned "  is  in  Smith's  best  vein.  The  casual  reader 
would  certainly  conclude  that  the  Somers  Isles 
were  somehow  due  to  the  providence  of  John  Smith, 
when  in  fact  he  never  even  heard  that  Gates  and 
Smith  were  shipwrecked  there  till  he  had  returned 
to  England,  sent  home  from  Virginia.  Neill  says 
that  Smith  ventured  ^9  in  the  Virginia  company! 
But  he  does  not  say  where  he  got  the  money. 

New  England,  he  affirms,  hath  been  nearly  as 
chargeable  to  him  and  his  friends:  he  never  got  a 
shilling  but  it  cost  him  a  pound.  And  now,  when 
New  England  is  prosperous  and  a  certainty,  "what 
think  you  I  undertook  when  nothing  was  known, 
but  that  there  was  a  vast  land."  These  are  some  of 
the  considerations  by  which  he  urges  the  company 
to  fit  out  an  expedition  for  him:  *'  thus  betwixt  the 
spur  of  desire  and  the  bridle  of  reason  I  am  near 
ridden  to  death  in  a  ring  of  despair;  the  reins  are 


268  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  39 

in    your  hands,    therefore    I    entreat    you    to    ease 


me." 


The  Admiral  of  New  England,  who  since  he  en- 
joyed the  title  had  had  neither  ship,  nor  sailor,  nor 
rod  of  land,  nor  cubic  yard  of  salt  water  under  his 
command,  was  not  successful  in  his  several  "  Trials." 
And  in  the  hodge-podge  compilation  from  himself 
and  others,  which  he  had  put  together  shortly  after, 
— the  "  General  Historic,"  he  pathetically  exclaims: 
"Now  all  these  proofs  and  this  relation,  I  now 
called  New  England's  Trials.  I  caused  two  or 
three  thousand  of  them  to  be  printed,  one  thousand 
with  a  great  many  maps  both  of  Virginia  and  New 
England,  I  presented  to  thirty  of  the  chief  com- 
panies in  London  at  their  Halls,  desiring  either 
generally  or  particularly  (them  that  would)  to  im- 
brace  it  and  by  the  use  of  a  stock  of  five  thousand 
pounds  to  ease  them  of  the  superfluity  of  most  of 
their  companies  that  had  but  strength  and  health 
to  labor;  near  a  year  I  spent  to  understand  their 
resolutions,  which  was  to  me  a  greater  toil  and  tor- 
ment, than  to  have  been  in  New  England  about  my 
business  but  with  bread  and  water,  and  what  I 
could  get  by  my  labor;  but  in  conclusion,  see- 
ing nothing  would  be  effected  I  was  contented 
as  well  with  this  loss  of  time  and  change  as  all  the 
rest." 

In  his  "  Advertisements  "  he  says  that  at  his  own 
labor,  cost,  and  loss  he  had  "  divulged  more  than 
seven  thousand  books  and  maps,"  in  order  to  influ- 
ence the  companies,  merchants  and  gentlemen  to 
make  a  plantation,  but  ''  all  availed  no  more  than 
to  hew  Rocks  with  Oister-shels." 

His  suggestions  about  colonizing  were  always 
sensible.     But  we  can  imagine  the  group  of  mer- 


1622]  NEIV  ENGLAND'S   TRIALS.  269 

chants  in  Cheapside  gradually  dissolving  as  Smith 
hove  in  sight  with  his  maps  and  demonstrations. 

In  1618,  Smith  addressed  a  letter  directly  to  Lord 
Bacon,  to  which  there  seems  to  have  been  no  an- 
swer. The  body  of  it  was  a  condensation  of  what 
he  had  repeatedly  written  about  New  England,  and 
the  advantage  to  England  of  occupying  the  fisher- 
ies. "  This  nineteen  years,"  he  writes,  "  I  have  en- 
countered no  few  dangers  to  learn  what  here  I  write 
in  these  few  leaves:  .  .  .  their  fruits  I  am  cer- 
tain may  bring  both  wealth  and  honor  for  a  crown 
and  a  kingdom  to  his  majesty's  posterity."  With 
5000  pounds  he  will  undertake  to  establish  a  colony, 
and  he  asks  of  his  Majesty  a  pinnace  to  lodge  his 
men  and  defend  the  coast  for  a  few  months,  until 
the  colony  gets  settled.  Notwithstanding  his  dis- 
appointments and  losses,  he  is  still  patriotic,  and 
offers  his  experience  to  his  country:  "  Should  I  pre- 
sent it  to  the  Biskayners,  French  and  Hollanders, 
they  have  made  me  large  offers.  But  nature  doth 
bind  me  thus  to  beg  at  home,  whom  strangers  have 
pleased  to  create  a  commander  abroad.  .  .  . 
Though  I  can  promise  no  mines  of  gold,  the  Holland- 
ers are  an  example  of  my  project,  whose  endeavors 
by  fishing  cannot  be  suppressed  by  all  the  King  of 
Spain's  golden  powers.  Worth  is  more  than  wealth, 
and  industrious  subjects  are  more  to  a  kingdom 
than  gold.  And  this  is  so  certain  a  course  to  get 
both  as  I  think  was  never  propounded  to  any  state 
for  so  small  a  charge,  seeing  I  can  prove  it,  both  by 
example,  reason  and  experience." 

Smith's  maxims  were  excellent,  his  notions  of  set- 
tling New  England  were  sound  and  sensible,  and  if 
writing  could  have  put  him  in  command  of  New 
England,  there  would  have  been  no  room  for  the 


2/0  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  43-45 

Puritans.  He  addressed  letter  after  letter  to  the 
companies  of  Virginia  and  Plymouth,  giving  them 
distinctly  to  understand  that  they  were  losing  time 
by  not  availing  themselves  of  his  services  and  his 
project.  After  the  Virginia  massacre,  he  offered  to 
undertake  to  drive  the  savages  out  of  their  country 
with  a  hundred  soldiers  and  thirty  sailors.  He 
heard  that  most  of  the  company  liked  exceedingly 
well  the  notion,  but  no  reply  came  to  his  overture. 

He  laments  the  imbecility  in  the  conduct  of  the 
new  plantations.  At  first,  he  says,  it  was  feared  the 
Spaniards  would  invade  the  plantations  or  the  Eng- 
lish Papists  dissolve  them:  but  neither  the  councils 
of  Spain  nor  the  Papists  could  have  desired  a  better 
course  to  ruin  the  plantations  than  have  been  pur- 
sued; "it  seems  God  is  angry  to  see  Virginia  in 
hands  so  strange  where  nothing  but  murder  and 
indiscretion  contends  for  the  victory." 

In  his  letters  to  the  company  and  to  the  King's 
commissions  for  the  reformation  of  Virginia,  Smith 
invariably  reproduces  his  own  exploits,  until  we  can 
imagine  every  person  in  London,  who  could  read, 
was  sick  of  the  story.  He  reminds  them  of  his  un- 
requited services:  "in  neither  of  those  two  coun- 
tries have  I  one  foot  of  land,  nor  the  very  house  I 
builded,  nor  the  ground  I  digged  with  my  own 
hands,  nor  ever  any  content  or  satisfaction  at  all, 
and  though  I  see  ordinarily  those  two  countries 
shared  before  me  by  them  that  neither  have  them 
nor  knows  them,  but  by  my  descriptions.  .  .  . 
For  the  books  and  maps  I  have  made,  I  will  thank 
him  that  will  show  me  so  much  for  so  little  recom- 
pense, and  bear  with  their  errors  till  I  have  done 
better.  For  the  materials  in  them  I  cannot  deny, 
but  am  ready  to  affirm  them  both  there  and  here, 


1624]  iV^^r  ENGLAND'S   TRIALS,  27 1 

upon  such  ground  as  I  have  propounded,  which  is 
to  have  but  fifteen  hundred  men  to  subdue  again 
the  Salvages,  fortify  the  country,  discover  that  yet 
unknown,  and  both  defend  and  feed  their  colony." 

There  is  no  record  that  these  various  petitions 
and  letters  of  advice  were  received  by  the  compa- 
nies, but  Smith  prints  them  in  his  History,  and 
gives  also  seven  questions  propounded  to  him  by 
the  commissioners,  with  his  replies;  in  which  he 
clearly  states  the  cause  o*f  the  disasters  in  the  colo- 
nies, and  proposes  wise  and  statesman-like  reme- 
dies. He  insists  upon  industry  and  good  conduct: 
"  to  rectify  a  commonwealth  with  debauched  people 
is  impossible,  and  no  wise  man  would  throw  him- 
self into  such  society,  that  intends  honestly,  and 
knows  what  he  understands,  for  there  is  no  country 
to  pillage,  as  the  Romans  found  ;  all  you  expect 
from  thence  must  be  by  labour." 

Smith  was  no  friend  to  tobacco,  and  although  he 
favored  the  production  to  a  certain  limit  as  a  means 
of  profit,  it  is  interesting  to  note  his  true  prophecy 
that  it  would  ultimately  be  a  demoralizing  product. 
He  often  proposes  the  restriction  of  its  cultivation, 
and  speaks  with  contempt  of  "  our  men  rooting  in 
the  ground  about  tobacco  like  swine."  The  colony 
would  have  been  much  better  off  "  had  they  not  so 
much  doated  on  their  tobacco,  on  whose  fumish 
foundation  there  is  small  stability." 

So  long  as  he  lived.  Smith  kept  himself  informed 
of  the  progress  of  adventure  and  settlement  in  the 
New  World,  reading  all  relations  and  eagerly  ques- 
tioning all  voyagers,  and  transferring  their  accounts 
to  his  own  History,  which  became  a  confused  patch- 
work of  other  men's  exploits  and  his  own  reminis- 
cences and  reflections.     He  always  regards  the  new 


2/2  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^Et.  43-45 

plantations  as  somehow  his  own,  and  made  in  the 
light  of  his  advice;  and  their  mischances  are  usually 
due  to  the  neglect  of  his  counsel.  He  relates  in  this 
volume  the  story  of  the  Pilgrims  in  1620  and  the 
years  following,  and  of  the  settlement  of  the  Somers 
Isles,  making  himself  appear  as  a  kind  of  Provi- 
dence over  the  New  World. 

Out  of  his  various  and  repetitious  writings  might 
be  compiled  quite  a  hand-book  of  maxims  and  wise 
saws.  Yet  all  had  in  steady  view  one  purpose — to 
excite  interest  in  his  favorite  projects,  to  shame  the 
laggards  of  England  out  of  their  idleness,  and  to 
give  himself  honorable  employment  and  authority 
in  the  building  up  of  a  new  empire.  "  Who  can 
desire,"  he  exclaims,  "  more  content  that  hath  small 
means,  or  but  only  his  merit  to  advance  his  for- 
tunes, than  to  tread  and  plant  that  ground  he  hath 
purchased  by  the  hazard  of  his  life;  if  he  have  but 
the  taste  of  virtue  and  magnanimity,  what  to  such  a 
mind  can  be  more  pleasant  than  planting  and  build- 
ing a  foundation  for  his  posterity,  got  from  the  rude 
earth  by  God's  blessing  and  his  own  industry  with- 
out prejudice  to  any;  if  he  have  any  grace  of  faith 
or  zeal  in  Religion,  what  can  be  more  healthful  to 
any  or  more  agreeable  to  God  than  to  convert  those 
poor  salvages  to  know  Christ  and  humanity,  whose 
labours  and  discretion  will  triply  requite  any  charge 
and  pain." 

"  Then  who  would  live  at  home  idly,"  he  exhorts 
his  countrymen,  "or  think  in  himself  any  worth  to 
live,  only  to  eat,  drin!c  and  sleep,  and  so  die;  or  by 
consuming  that  carelessly  his  friends  got  worthily, 
or  by  using  that  miserably  that  maintained  virtue 
honestly,  or  for  being  descended  nobly,  or  pine  with 
the  vain  vaunt  of  great  kindred  in  penury,  or  to 


1624]  NEW  ENGLAND'S   TRIALS.  2/3 

maintain  a  silly  show  of  bravery,  toil  out  thy  heart, 
soul  and  time  basely;  by  shifts,  tricks,  cards  and 
dice,  or  by  relating  news  of  other  men's  actions, 
sharke  here  and  there  for  a  dinner  or  supper,  de- 
ceive thy  friends  by  fair  promises  and  dissimula- 
tions, in  borrowing  when  thou  never  meanest  to 
pay,  offend  the  laws,  surfeit  with  excess,  burden 
thy  country,  abuse  thyself,  despair  in  want,  and  then 
cozen  thy  kindred,  yea,  even  thy  own  brother,  and 
wish  thy  parent's  death  (I  will  not  say  damnation), 
to  have  their  estates,  though  thou  seest  what  honors 
and  rewards  the  world  yet  hath  for  them  that  will 
seek  them  and  worthily  deserve  them." 

"  I  would  be  sorry  to  offend,  or  that  any  should 
mistake  my  honest  meaning:  for  I  wish  good  to  all, 
hurt  to  none;  but  rich  men  for  the  most  part  are 
grown  to  that  dotage  through  their  pride  in  their 
wealth,  as  though  there  were  no  accident  could  end 
it  or  their  life." 

"  And  what  hellish  care  do  such  take  to  make  it 
their  own  misery  and  their  countrie's  spoil,  espe- 
cially when  there  is  such  need  of  their  employment, 
drawing  by  all  manner  of  inventions  from  the 
Prince  and  his  honest  subjects,  even  the  vital  spirits 
of  their  powers  and  estates;  as  if  their  bags  or  brags 
were  so  powerful  a  defense,  the  malicious  could  not 
assault  them,  when  they  are  the  only  bait  to  cause 
us  not  only  to  be  assaulted,  but  betrayed  and 
smothered  in  our  own  security  ere  we  will  prevent 
it." 

And  he  adds  this  good  advice  to  those  who  main- 
tain their  children  in  wantonness  till  they  grow  to 
be  the  masters:  "  Let  this  lamentable  example  [the 
ruin  of  Constantinople]  remember  you  that  are  rich 
(seeing  there  are  such  great  thieves  in  the  world  to 


2/4  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  45 

rob  you)  not  grudge  to  lend  some  proportion  to 
breed  them  that  have  little,  yet  willing  to  learn  how 
to  defend  you,  for  it  is  too  late  when  the  deed  is 
done." 

No  motive  of  action  did  Smith  omit  in  his  im- 
portunity, for  "  Religion  above  all  things  should 
move  us,  especially  the  clergy,  if  we  are  religious." 
'*  Honor  might  move  the  gentry,  the  valiant  and  in- 
dustrious, and  the  hope  and  assurance  of  wealth  all, 
if  we  were  that  we  would  seem  and  be  accounted; 
or  be  we  so  far  inferior  to  other  nations,  or  our 
spirits  so  far  dejected  from  our  ancient  predeces- 
sors, or  our  minds  so  upon  spoil,  piracy  and 
such  villainy,  as  to  serve  the  Portugall,  Spaniard, 
Dutch,  French  or  Turke  (as  to  the  cost  of  Europe 
too  many  do),  rather  than  our  own  God,  our  king, 
our  country,  and  ourselves:  excusing  our  idleness 
and  our  base  complaints  by  want  of  employment, 
when  here  is  such  choice  of  all  sorts,  and  for  all  de- 
grees, in  the  planting  and  discovering  these  North 
parts  of  America." 

It  was  all  in  vain  so  far  as  Smith's  fortunes  were 
concerned.  The  planting  and  subjection  of  New 
England  went  on,  and  Smith  had  no  part  in  it 
except  to  describe  it.  The  Brownists,  the  Anabap- 
tists, the  Papists,  the  Puritans,  the  Separatists,  and 
''such  factious  Humorists,"  were  taking  possession 
of  the  land  that  Smith  claimed  to  have  "discovered," 
and  in  which  he  had  no  foothold.  Failing  to  get 
employment  anywhere,  he  petitioned  the  Virginia 
Company  for  a  reward  out  of  the  treasury  in  Lon- 
don or  the  profits  in  Virginia. 

At  one  of  the  hot  discussions  in  1623  preceding 
the  dissolution  of  the  Virginia  Company  by  the 
revocation  of  their  charter.  Smith  was  present,  and 


i6i4-2o]  JSTEW  ENGLAND'S   TRIALS.  2/5 

said  that  he  hoped  for  his  time  spent  in  Virginia  he 
should  receive  that  year  a  good  quantity  of  tobacco. 
The  charter  was  revoked  in  1624  after  many  violent 
scenes,  and  King  James  was  glad  to  be  rid  of  what 
he  called  "  a  seminary  for  a  seditious  parliament." 
The  company  had  made  use  of  lotteries  to  raise 
funds,  and  upon  their  disuse,  in  162 1,  Smith  pro- 
posed to  the  company  to  compile  for  its  benefit  a 
general  history.  This  he  did,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  company  took  any  action  on  his  proposal. 
At  one  time  he  had  been  named,  with  three  others, 
as  a  fit  person  for  secretary,  on  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Pory,  but  as  only  three  could  be  balloted  for,  his 
name  was  left  out.  He  was,  however,  commended 
as  entirely  competent. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  companies,  and  the 
granting  of  new  letters-patent  to  a  company  of 
some  twenty  noblemen,  there  seems  to  have  been  a 
project  for  dividing  up  the  country  by  lot.  Smith 
says:  "All  this  they  divided  in  twenty  parts,  for 
which  they  cast  lots,  but  no  lot  for  me  but  Smith's 
Isles,  which  are  a  many  of  barren  rocks,  the  most 
overgrown  with  shrubs,  and  sharp  whins,  you  can 
hardly  pass  them;  without  either  grass  or  wood, 
but  three  or  four  short  shrubby  old  cedars." 

The  plan  was  not  carried  out,  and  Smith  never 
became  lord  of  even  these  barren  rocks,  the  Isles  of 
Shoals.  That  he  visited  them  when  he  sailed  along 
the  coast  is  probable,  though  he  never  speaks  of 
doing  so.  In  the  Virginia  waters  he  had  left  a 
cluster  of  islands  bearing  his  name  also. 

In  the  Captain's  "True  Travels,"  published  in 
1630,  is  a  summary  of  the  condition  of  coloniza- 
tion in  New  England  from  Smith's  voyage  thence 
till    the    settlement    of    Plymouth    in    1620,    which 


2/6  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [1614-20 

makes  an  appropriate  close  to  our  review  of  this 
period: 


"When   I   first  went   to  the   North  part  of  Virginia, 
where  the  Westerly  Colony  had  been  planted,  it  had  dis- 
solved itself  within  a  year,  and  there  was  not  one  Christian 
in  all  the  land.     I  was  set  forth  at  the  sole  charge  of  four 
merchants  of  London ;   the  Country  being  then   reputed 
by  your  westerlings  a  most  rocky,  barren,  desolate  desart ; 
but  the  good  return  I  brought  from  thence,  with  the  mapS' 
and  relations  of  the  Country,  which  I  made  so  manifest, 
some  of  them  did  believe  me,  and  they  were  well  em- 
braced,  both    by   the   Londoners,   and  Westerlings,   for 
whom  I  had  promised  to  undertake  it,  thinking  to  have 
joyned  them  all  together,  but  that  might  well  have  been 
a  work  for  Hercules.    Betwixt  them  long  there  was  much 
contention  :  the  Londoners  indeed  went  bravely  forward  : 
but  in  three  or  four  years  I  and  my  friends  consumed 
many  hundred  pounds  amongst  the  Plimothians,  who  only 
fed   me  but  with  delays,  promises,  and  excuses,  but  no 
performance  of  anything  to  any  purpose.     In  the  interim, 
many  particular  ships  went  thither,  and  finding  my  rela- 
tions true,  and  that  I  had  not  taken  that  I  brought  home 
from  the  French  men,  as  had  been  reported  :  yet  further 
for   my  pains   to  discredit  me,  and   my  calling   it  New 
England,  they  obscured  it,  and  shadowed  it,  with  the  title 
of  Canada,  till  at  my  humble  suit,  it  pleased  our  most 
Royal  King  Charles,  whom  God  long  keep,  bless  and  pre- 
serve, then   Prince  of  Wales,  to  confirm  it  with  my  map- 
and  book,  by  the  title  of  New  England ;  the  gain  thence 
returnins:  did   make  the  fame  thereof  so  increase  that 
thirty,  forty  or  fifty  sail  went  yearly  only  to  trade  and  fish  ;: 
but  nothing  would  be  done  for  a  plantation,  till  about 
some  hundred  of  your  Brownists  of  England,  Amsterdam 
and  Leyden  went  to   New  Plimouth,  whose   humorous 
ignorances,  caused  them  for  more  than  a  year,  to  endure 
a  wonderful  deal  of  misery,  with  an  infinite  patience ;  say- 
ing my  books  and  maps  were  much  better  cheap  to  teach 


i6i4-2o]  NEW  ENGLAND'S    TRIALS.  2"/ J 

them  than  myself :  many  others  have  used  the  like  good 
husbandry  that  have  payed  soundly  in  trying  their  self- 
willed  conclusions;  but  those  in  time  doing  well,  diverse 
others  have  in  small  handfulls  undertaken  to  go  there,  to 
be  several  Lords  and  Kings  of  themselves,  but  most  van- 
ished to  nothing." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

WRITINGS,    LATER    YEARS. 

IF  Smith  had  not  been  an  author,  his  exploits 
would  have  occupied  a  small  space  in  the  litera- 
ture of  his  times.  But  by  his  unwearied  narrations 
he  impressed  his  image  in  gigantic  features  on 
our  plastic  continent.  If  he  had  been  silent,  he 
would  have  had  something  less  than  justice;  as  it 
is,  he  has  been  permitted  to  greatly  exaggerate  his 
relations  to  the  New  World.  It  is  only  by  noting 
the  comparative  silence  of  his  contemporaries  and 
by  winnowing  his  own  statements  that  we  can 
appreciate  his  true  position. 

For  twenty  years  he  was  a  voluminous  writer, 
working  off  his  superfluous  energy  in  setting  forth 
his  adventures  in  new  forms.  Most  of  his  writings 
are  repetitions  and  recastings  of  the  old  material, 
with  such  reflections  as  occur  to  him  from  time  to 
time.  He  seldom  writes  a  book,  or  a  tract,  without 
beginning  it  or  working  into  it  a  resume  of  his  life. 
The  only  exception  to  this  is  his  ''  Sea  Grammar." 
In  1626  he  published  "An  Accidence  or  the  Pathway 
to  Experience,  necessary  to  all  Young  Seamen," 
and  in  1627  "A  Sea  Grammar,  with  the  plain  Expo- 
sition of  Smith's  Accidence  for  Young  Seamen, 
enlarged."  This  is  a  technical  work,  and  strictly 
confined  to  the  building,  rigging,  and  managing  of 
a  ship.  He  was  also  engaged  at  the  time  of  his 
death  upon  a  "  History  of  the  Sea,"  which  never 


WRITINGS— LATER    YEARS.  279 

saw  the  light.  He  was  evidently  fond  of  the  sea, 
and  we  may  say  the  title  of  Admiral  came  naturally 
to  him,  since  he  used  it  in  the  title-page  to  his 
"Description  of  New  England,"  published  in  1616, 
although  it  was  not  till  16 17  that  the  commissioners 
at  Plymouth  agreed  to  bestow  upon  him  the  title 
of  "Admiral  of  that  country." 

In  1630  he  published  "The  True  Travels,  Adven- 
tures and  Observations  of  Captain  John  Smith,  in 
Europe,  Asia,  Affrica  and  America,  from  1593  to 
1629.  Together  with  a  Continuation  of  his  Gen- 
eral History  of  Virginia,  Summer  Isles,  New  Eng- 
land, and  their  proceedings  since  1624  to  this  pres- 
ent 1629:  as  also  of  the  new  Plantations  of  the  great 
River  of  the  Amazons,  the  Isles  of^St.  Christopher, 
Mevis  and  Barbadoes  in  the  West  Indies."  In  the 
dedication  to  William,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  Rob- 
ert, Earl  of  Lindsay,  he  says  it  was  written  at  the 
request  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  the  learned  antiqua- 
rian, and  he  the  more  willingly  satisfies  this  noble 
desire  because,  as  he  says,  ''they  have  acted  my 
fatal  tragedies  on  the  stage,  and  racked  my  rela- 
tions at  their  pleasure.  To  prevent,  therefore,  all 
future  misprisions,  I  have  compiled  this  true  dis- 
course. Envy  hath  taxed  me  to  have  writ  too 
much,  and  done  too  little;  but  that  such  should 
know  how  little  I  esteem  them,  I  have  writ  this 
more  for  the  satisfaction  of  my  friends,  and  all 
generous  and  well-disposed  readers:  To  speak  only 
of  myself  were  intolerable  ingratitude:  because, 
having  had  many  co-partners  with  me,  I  cannot 
make  a  Monument  for  myself,  and  leave  them  un= 
buried  in  the  fields,  whose  lives  begot  me  the  title 
of  Soldier,  for  as  they  were  companions  with  me  in 
my  dangers,  so  shall  they  be  partakers  with  me  in 


28o  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  50 

this  Tombe."  In  the  same  dedication  he  spoke  of 
his  "  Sea  Grammar"  caused  to  be  printed  by  his 
worthy  friend  Sir  Samuel  Saltonstall. 

This  volume,  like  all  others  Smith  published,  is 
accompanied  by  a  great  number  of  swollen  pan- 
egyrics in  verse,  showing  that  the  writers  had  been 
favored  with  the  perusal  of  the  volume  before  it 
was  published.  Valor,  piety,  virtue,  learning,  wit, 
are  by  them  ascribed  to  the  "great  Smith,"  who  is 
easily  the  wonder  and  paragon  of  his  age.  All  of 
them  are  stuffed  with  the  affected  conceits  fashion- 
able at  the  time.  One  of  the  most  pedantic  of 
these  was  addressed  to  him  by  Samuel  Purchas 
when  the  "  General  Historic"  was  written. 

The  portrait  of  Smith  which  occupies  a  corner  in 
the  Map  of  Virginia  has  in  the  oval  the  date,  *'^ta 
37,  A*^  1616,"  and  round  the  rim  the  inscription: 
"  Portraictuer  of  Captaine  John  Smith,  Admirall  of 
New  England,"  and  under  it  these  lines  engraved: 

"  These  are  the  Lines  that  show  thy  face:  but  those 
That  show  thy  Grace  and  Glory  brighter  bee: 
Thy  Faire-Discoveries  and  Fowle-Overthrowes 
Of  Salvages,  much  Civilized  by  thee 
Best  shew  thy  Spirit;  and  to  it  Glory  Wyn; 
So,  thou  art  Brasse  without,  but  Golde  within, 
If  so,  in  Brasse  (too  soft  smiths  Acts  to  beare) 
I  fix  thy  Fame  to  make  Brasse  Steele  outweare. 

Thine  as  thou  art  Virtues 
John  Davies,  Heref." 

In  this  engraving  Smith  is  clad  in  armor,  with  a 
high  starched  collar,  and  full  beard  and  mustache 
formally  cut.  His  right  hand  rests  on  his  hip,  and 
his  left  grasps  the  handle  of  his  sword.  The  face 
is  open  and  pleasing  and  full  of  decision. 


1630-31]  VVRiriNGS— LATER    YEARS.  28 1 

This  "  true  discourse"  contains  the  wild  romance 
with  which  this  volume  opens,  and  is  pieced  out 
with  recapitulations  of  his  former  writings  and  ex- 
ploits, compilations  from  others'  relations,  and  gen- 
eral comments.  We  have  given  from  it  the  story  of 
his  early  life,  because  there  is  absolutely  no  other 
account  of  that  part  of  his  career.  We  may  assume 
that  up  to  his  going  to  Virginia  he  did  lead  a  life 
of  reckless  adventure  and  hardship,  often  in  want 
of  a  decent  suit  of  clothes  and  of  "regular  meals." 
That  he  took  some  part  in  the  wars  in  Hungary  is 
probable,  notwithstanding  his  romancing  narrative, 
and  he  may  have  been  captured  by  the  Turks.  But 
his  account  of  the  wars  there,  and  of  the  political 
complications,  we  suspect  are  cribbed  from  the  old 
chronicles,  probably  from  the  Italian,  while  his 
vague  descriptions  of  the  lands  and  people  in  Tur- 
key and  "  Tartaria"  are  evidently  taken  from  the 
narratives  of  other  travelers.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  whole  of  his  story  of  his  oriental  captivity  lacks 
the  note  of  personal  experience.  If  it  were  not  for 
the  ''  patent"  of  Sigismund  (which  is  only  produced 
and  certified  twenty  years  after  it  is  dated),  the 
whole  Transylvania  legend  would  appear  entirely 
apocryphal. 

The  "  True  Travels"  close  with  a  discourse  upon 
the  bad  life,  qualities,  and  conditions  of  pirates. 
The  most  ancient  of  these  was  one  Collis,  "  w^ho 
most  refreshed  himself  upon  the  coast  of  Wales, 
and  Clinton  and  Pursser,  his  companions,  who  grew 
famous  till  Queen  Elizabeth  of  blessed  memory 
hanged  them  at  Wapping.  The  misery  of  a  Pirate 
(although  many  are  as  sufficient  seaman  as  any) 
yet  in  regard  of  his  superfluity,  you  shall  find  it 
such,  that  any  wise  man  would  rather  live  amongst 


282  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  50-51 

wild  beasts,  than  them;  therefore  let  all  unadvised 
persons  take  heed  how  they  entertain  that  quality; 
and  I  could  wish  merchants,  gentlemen,  and  all  set- 
ters-forth  of  ships  not  to  be  sparing  of  a  competent 
pay,  nor  true  payment;  for  neither  soldiers  nor  sea- 
men can  live  without  means;  but  necessity  will  force 
them  to  steal,  and  when  they  are  once  entered  into 
that  trade  they  are  hardly  reclaimed." 

Smith  complains  that  the  play-writers  had  ap- 
propriated his  adventures,  but  does  not  say  that 
his  own  character  had  been  put  upon  the  stage.  In 
Ben  Jonson's  "Staple  of  News,"  played  in  1625, 
there  is  a  reference  to  Pocahontas  in  the  dialogue 
that  occurs  between  Pick-lock  and  Pennyboy 
Canter: 

Pick. — A  tavern's  unfit  too  for  a  princess. 

P.  Cant. — No,  I  have  known  a  Princess  and  a  great  one, 

Come  forth  of  a  tavern. 
Pick. — Not  go  in  Sir,  though. 
P.  Cant. — She  must  go  in,  if  she  came  forth. 

The  blessed  Pocahontas,  as  the  historian  calls 
her, 

And  great  King's  daughter  of  Virginia, 

Hath  been  in  womb  of  tavern. 

The  last  work  of  our  author  was  published  in 
163 1,  the  year  of  his  death.  Its  full  title  very  well 
describes  the  contents:  "Advertisements  for  the 
Unexperienced  Planters  of  New  England,  or  any- 
where. Or,  the  Pathway  to  Experience  to  erect  a 
Plantation.  With  the  yearly  proceedings  of  this 
country  in  fishing  and  planting  since  the  year  1614 
to  the  year  1630,  and  their  present  estate.  Also, 
how  to  prevent  the  greatest  inconvenience  by  their 
proceedings  in  Virginia,  and  other  plantations  by 


1630-31]  WRITINGS— LATER    YEARS.  283 

approved  examples.  With  the  countries  armes,  a 
description  of  the  coast,  harbours,  habitations,  land- 
marks, latitude  and  longitude:  with  the  map  allowed 
by  our  Royall  King  Charles." 

Smith  had  become  a  trifle  cynical  in  regard  to 
the  newsmongers  of  the  day,  and  quaintly  remarks 
in  his  address  to  the  reader:  ^' Apelles  by  the  pro- 
portion of  a  foot  could  make  the  whole  proportion 
of  a  man:  were  he  now  living,  he  might  go  to 
school,  for  now  thousands  can  by  opinion  propor- 
tion kingdoms,  cities  and  lordships  that  never  durst 
adventure  to  see  them.  Malignancy  I  expect  from 
these,  have  lived  10  or  12  years  in  those  actions, 
and  return  as  wise  as  they  went,  claiming  time  and 
experience  for  their  tutor,  that  can  neither  shift 
Sun  nor  moon,  nor  say  their  compass,  yet  will  tell 
you  of  more  than  all  the  world  betwixt  the  Ex- 
change, Paul's  and  Westminster  ....  and  tell  as 
well  what  all  England  is  by  seeing  but  Mitford 
Haven  as  what  Apelles  was  by  the  picture  of  his 
great  toe." 

This  is  one  of  Smith's  most  characteristic  pro- 
ductions. Its  material  is  ill-arranged,  and  much  of 
it  is  obscurely  written;  it  runs  backward  and  for- 
ward along  his  life,  refers  constantly  to  his  former 
works  and  repeats  them,  complains  of  the  want  of 
appreciation  of  his  services,  and  makes  himself  the 
center  of  all  the  colonizing  exploits  of  the  age.  Yet 
it  is  interspersed  with  strokes  of  humor  and  obser- 
vations full  of  good  sense. 

It  opens  with  the  airy  remark:  "The  wars  in 
Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  taught  me  how  to  subdue 
the  wild  savages  in  Virginia  and  New  England," 
He  never  did  subdue  the  wild  savages  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  he  never  was  in  any  war  in  Africa,  nor  iu 


284  CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH.  [^t.  50-51 

Asia,  unless  we  call  his  piratical  cruising  in  the 
Mediterranean  "wars  in  Asia." 

As  a  Church  of  England  man,  Smith  is  not  well 
pleased  with  the  occupation  of  New  England  by 
the  Puritans,  Brownists,  and  such  "  factious  humor- 
ists" as  settled  at  New  Plymouth,  although  he 
acknowledges  the  wonderful  patience  with  which, 
in  their  ignorance  and  willfulness,  they  have  en- 
dured losses  and  extremities;  but  he  hopes  better 
things  of  the  gentlemen  who  went  in  1629  to  supply 
Endicott  at  Salem,  and  were  followed  the  next  year 
by  Winthrop.  All  these  adventurers  have,  he  says, 
made  use  of  his  "aged  endeavors."  It  seems  pre- 
sumptuous in  them  to  try  to  get  on  with  his  maps 
and  descriptions  and  without  him.  They  probably 
had  never  heard,  except  in  the  title-pages  of  his 
works,  that  he  was  "Admiral  of  New  England." 

Even  as  late  as  this  time  many  supposed  New 
England  to  be  an  island,  but  Smith  again  asserts,, 
what  he  had  always  maintained — that  it  was  a  part 
of  the  continent.  The  expedition  of  Winthrop  was 
scattered  by  a  storm,  and  reached  Salem  with  the 
loss  of  threescore  dead  and  many  sick,  to  find  as 
many  of  the  colony  dead,  and  all  disconsolate.  Of 
the  discouraged  among  them  who  returned  to  Eng- 
land Smith  says:  "  Some  could  not  endure  the  name 
of  a  bishop,  others  not  the  sight  of  a  cross  or  sur- 
plice, others  by  no  means  the  book  of  common 
prayer.  This  absolute  crew,  only  of  the  Elect,  hold- 
ing all  (but  such  as  themselves)  reprobates  and 
castaways,  now  made  more  haste  to  return  to  Babel, 
as  they  termed  England,  than  stay  to  enjoy  the  land 
they  called  Canaan."  Somewhat  they  must  say  to 
excuse  themselves.  Therefore  "  some  say  they 
could  see  no  timbers  of  ten  foot  diameter;   some 


WRITINGS— LATER    YEARS.  285 

the  country  is  all  wood;  others  they  drained  all  the 
springs  and  ponds  dry,  yet  like  to  famish  for  want 
of  fresh  water;  some  of  the  danger  of  the  ratell- 
snake.'"  To  compel  all  the  Indians  to  furnish  them 
•corn  without  using  them  cruelly  they  say  is  impos- 
sible. Yet  this  "  impossible,"  Smith  says,  he  ac- 
complished in  Virginia,  and  offers  to  undertake  in 
New  England,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to 
get  corn,  fortify  the  country,  and  "  discover  them 
more  land  than  they  all  yet  know." 

This  homily  ends — and  it  is  the  last  published 
sentence  of  the  "great  Smith" — with  this  good  ad- 
vice to  the  New  England  colonists: 

*'  Lastly,  remember  as  faction,  pride,  and  security 
produces  nothing  but  confusion,  misery  and  disso- 
lution; so  the  contraries  well  practised  will  in  short 
time  make  you  happy,  and  the  most  admired  people 
of  all  our  plantations  for  your  time  in  the  world. 

"John  Smith  writ  this  with  his  owne  hand." 

The  extent  to  which  Smith  retouched  his  narra- 
tions, as  they  grew  in  his  imagination,  in  his  many 
reproductions  of  them,  has  been  referred  to,  and 
illustrated  by  previous  quotations.  An  amusing 
instance  of  his  care  and  ingenuity  is  furnished  by 
the  interpolation  of  Pocahontas  into  his  stories 
after  1623.  In  his  "General  Historie"  of  1624  he 
adopts,  for  the  account  of  his  career  in  Virginia, 
the  narratives  in  the  Oxford  tract  of  1612,  which  he 
had  supervised.  We  have  seen  how  he  interpolated 
the  wonderful  story  of  his  rescue  by  the  Indian 
child.  Some  of  his  other  insertions  of  her  name,  to 
bring  all  the  narrative  up  to  that  level,  are  curious. 
The  following  passages  from  the  "  Oxford  Tract" 
contain  in  italics  the  words  inserted  when  they 
were  transferred  to  the  "General  Historie": 


286  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  50-51 

"So  revived  their  dead  spirits  {especially  the  love  of 
Pocahuntas)  as  all  anxious  fears  were  abandoned." 

"  Part  always  they  brought  him  as  presents  from 
their  king,  or  Pocahuntas .'' 

-  In  the  account  of  the  "  masques"  of  girls  to  enter- 
tain Smith  at  Werowocomoco  we  read: 

"  But  presently  Pocahimtas  came,  wishing  him  to  kill 
her  if  any  hurt  were  intended,  arid  the  beholders,  which 
were  women  and  children,  satisfied  the  Captain 
there  was  no  such  matter." 

In  the  account  of  Wyffin's  bringing  the  news  of 
Scrivener's  drowning,  when  Wyffin  was  lodged  a 
night  with  Powhatan,  we  read: 

"  He  did  assure  himself  some  mischief  was  in- 
tended. Pocahontas  hid  him  for  a  time,  and  se7it  them 
who  pursued  him  the  clean  cojitrary  way  to  seek  hi^nj  but 
by  her  means  and  extraordinary  bribes  and  much 
trouble  in  three  days'  travel,  at  length  he  found  us 
in  the  middest  of  these  turmoyles." 

The  affecting  story  of  the  visit  and  warning  from 
Pocahontas  in  the  night,  when  she  appeared  with 
"tears  running  down  her  cheeks,"  is  not  in  the  first 
narration  in  the  Oxford  Tract,  but  is  inserted  in  the 
narrative  in  the  "  General  Historie."  Indeed,  the 
first  account  would  by  its  terms  exclude  the  later 
one.     It  is  all  contained  in  these  few  lines: 

"  But  our  barge  being  left  by  the  ebb,  caused  us  to  staie 
till  the  midnight  tide  carried  us  safe  aboord,  having  spent 
that  half  night  with  such  mirth  as  though  we  never  had 
suspected  or  intended  anything,  we  left  the  Dutchmen  to 
build,  Brinton  to  kill  foule  for  Powhatan  (as  by  his  mes- 
sengers he  importunately  desired),  and  left  directions  with 
our  men  to  give  Powhatan  all  the  content  they  could,  that 
we  might  enjoy  his  company  on  our  return  from  Pa- 
maunke." 

It  should   be   added,  however,  that  there   is  an 


1630-31]  WRITINGS— LATER    YEARS.  28/ 

allusion  to  some  warning  by  Pocahontas  in  the  last 
chapter  of  the  "  Oxford  Tract."  But  the  full  story 
of  the  night  visit  and  the  streaming  tears  as  we 
have  given  it  seems  without  doubt  to  have  been 
elaborated  from  very  slight  materials.  And  the 
subsequent  insertion  of  the  name  of  Pocahontas — 
of  which  we  have  given  examples  above — into  old 
accounts  that  had  no  allusion  to  her,  adds  new  and 
strong  presumptions  to  the  belief  that  Smith  in- 
vented what  is  known  as  the  "  Pocahontas  legend." 

As  a  mere  literary  criticism  on  Smith's  writings, 
it  would  appear  that  he  had  a  habit  of  transferring 
to  his  own  career  notable  incidents  and  adventures 
of  which  he  had  read,  and  this  is  somewhat  damag- 
ing to  an  estimate  of  his  originality.  His  wonder- 
ful system  of  telegraphy  by  means  of  torches,  which 
he  says  he  put  in  practice  at  the  siege  of  Olympack, 
and  which  he  describes  as  if  it  were  his  own  inven- 
tion, he  had  doubtless  read  in  Polybius,  and  it 
seemed  a  good  thing  to  introduce  into  his  narra- 
tive. 

He  was  (it  must  also  be  noted)  the  second  white 
man  whose  life  was  saved  by  an  Indian  princess  in 
America,  who  subsequently  warned  her  favorite  of 
a  plot  to  kill  him.  In  1528  Pamphilo  de  Narvaes 
landed  at  Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  and  made  a  disas- 
trous expedition  into  the  interior.  Among  the 
Spaniards  who  were  missing  as  a  result  of  this  ex- 
cursion was  a  soldier  named  Juan  Ortiz.  When  De 
Soto  marched  into  the  same  country  in  1539  he  en- 
countered this  soldier,  who  had  been  held  in  cap- 
tivity by  the  Indians  and  had  learned  their  lan- 
guage. The  story  that  Ortiz  told  was  this:  He  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  chief  Ucita,  bound  hand  and 
foot,  and  'stretched  upon  a  scaffold  to  be  roasted, 


288  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  52 

when,  just  as  the  flames  were  seizing  him,  a  daugh- 
ter of  the  chief  interposed  in  his  behalf,  and  upon 
her  prayers  Ucita  spared  the  life  of  the  prisoner. 
Three  years  afterward,  when  there  was  danger  that 
Ortiz  would  be  sacrificed  to  appease  the  devil,  the 
princess  came  to  him,  warned  him  of  his  danger, 
and  led  him  secretly  and  alone  in  the  night  to  the 
camp  of  a  chieftain  who  protected  him. 

This  narrative  was  in  print  before  Smith  wrote, 
and  as  he  was  fond  of  such  adventures  he  may  have 
read  it.  The  incidents  are  curiously  parallel.  And 
all  the  comment  needed  upon  it  is  that  Smith  seems 
to  have  been  peculiarly  subject  to  such  coinci- 
dences. 

Our  author's  selection  of  a  coat  of  arms,  the  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  which  was  "  three  Turks' 
heads,"  showed  little  more  originality.  It  was  a 
common  device  before  his  day:  on  many  coats  of 
arms  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  later  appear  "  three 
Saracens'  heads,"  or  ''  three  Moors'  heads" — prob- 
ably most  of  them  had  their  origin  in  the  Crusades. 
Smith's  patent  to  use  this  charge,  which  he  pro- 
duced from  Sigismund,  was  dated  1603,  but  the  cer- 
tificate appended  to  it  by  the  Garter  King  at  Arms, 
certifying  that  it  was  recorded  in  the  register  and 
office  of  the  heralds,  is  dated  1625.  Whether  Smith 
used  it  before  this  latter  date  we  are  not  told.*  We 
do  not  know  why  he  had  not  as  good  right  to 
assume  it  as  anybody. 

*  Burke's  "  Encyclopedia  of  Heraldry"  gives  it  as  granted  to 
Capt.  John  Smith,  of  the  Smiths  of  Crudley,  Co.  Lancaster,  in 
1623,  and  describes  it:  "Vert,  a  chev.  gu.  betw.  three  Turks' 
heads  couped  ppr.  turbaned  or.  Crest — an  Ostrich  or,  holding 
in  the  mouth  a  horseshoe  or. " 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DEATH    AND    CHARACTER. 

HARDSHIP  and  disappointment  made  our  hero 
prematurely  old,  but  could  not  conquer  his  in- 
domitable spirit.  The  disastrous  voyage  of  June, 
1615,  when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French,  is 
spoken  of  by  the  Council  for  New  England  in  1622 
as  "  the  ruin  of  that  poor  gentleman,  Captain  Smith, 
who  was  detained  prisoner  by  them,  and  forced  to 
suffer  many  extremities  before  he  got  free  of  his 
troubles;"  but  he  did  not  know  that  he  was  ruined, 
and  did  not  for  a  moment  relax  his  efforts  to  pro- 
mote colonization  and  obtain  a  command,  nor  re- 
linquish his  superintendence  of  the  Western  Con- 
tinent. 

His  last  days  were  evidently  passed  in  a  struggle 
for  existence,  which  was  not  so  bitter  to  him  as  it 
might  have  been  to  another  man,  for  he  was  sus- 
tained by  ever-elating  "  great  expectations."  That 
he  was  pinched  for  means  of  living,  there  is  no 
doubt.  In  1623  he  issued  a  prospectus  of  his 
"General  Historic,"  in  which  he  said:  "These  ob- 
servations are  all  I  have  for  the  expenses  of  a 
thousand  pounds  and  the  loss  of  eighteen  years' 
time,  besides  all  the  travels,  dangers,  miseries  and 
incumbrances  for  my  countries  good,  I  have  en- 
dured gratis:  .  .  .  this  is  composed  in  less  than 
eighty  sheets,  besides  the  three  maps,  which  will 
stand  me   near  in  a  hundred  pounds,  which  sum  I 


290  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  52 

cannot  disburse:  nor  shall  the  stationers  have  the 
copy  for  nothing,  I  therefore,  humbly  entreat  your 
Honour,  either  to  adventure,  or  give  me  what  you 
please  towards  the  impression,  and  I  will  be  both 
accountable  and  thankful." 

He  had  come  before  he  was  fifty  to  regard  him- 
self as  an  old  man,  and  to  speak  of  his  "  aged  en- 
deavors." Where  and  how  he  lived  in  his  later 
years,  and  with  what  surroundings  and  under  what 
circumstances  he  died,  there  is  no  record.  That  he 
had  no  settled  home,  and  was  in  mean  lodgings  at 
the  last,  may  be  reasonably  inferred.  There  is  a 
manuscript  note  on  the  fly-leaf  of  one  of  the  original 
editions  of  "The  Map  of  Virginia"*  (Oxford,  1612), 
in  ancient  chirography,  but  which  from  its  refer- 
ence to  Fuller  could  not  have  been  written  until 
more  than  thirty  years  after  Smith's  death.  It 
says:  ''When  he  was  old  he  lived  in  London  poor 
but  kept  up  his  spirits  with  the  commemoration  of 
his  former  actions  and  bravery.  He  was  buried  iil 
St.  Sepulcher's  Church,  as  Fuller  tells  us,  who  has 
given  us  a  line  of  his  Ranting  Epitaph." 

That  seems  to  have  been  the  tradition  of  the  man, 
buoyantly  supporting  himself  in  the  commemora- 
tion of  his  own  achievements.  To  the  end  his  in- 
dustrious and  hopeful  spirit  sustained  him,  and  in 
the  last  year  of  his  life  he  was  toiling  on  another 
compilation,  and  promised  his  readers  a  variety  of 
actions  and  memorable  observations  w^hich  they 
shall  "  find  with  admiration  in  my  History  of  the 
Sea,  if  God  be  pleased  I  live  to  finish  it." 

He  died  on  the  21st  of  June,  1631,  and  the  same 
day  made  his  last  will,  to  which  he  appended  his 

*  In  the  library  of  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  Esq.,  of  New  York.. 


i63i]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  29 1 

mark,  as  he  seems  to  have  been  too  feeble  to 
write  his  name.  In  this  he  describes  himself  as 
"  Captain  John  Smith  of  the  parish  of  St.  Sepulcher's 
London  Esquior."  He  commends  his  soul  '4nto 
the  hands  of  Almighty  God,  my  maker,  hoping 
through  the  merits  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Redeemer  to 
receive  full  remission  of  all  my  sins  and  to  inherit 
a  place  in  the  everlasting  kingdom;"  his  body  he 
commits  to  the  earth  whence  it  came;  and  "  of  such 
worldly  goods  whereof  it  hath  pleased  God  in  his 
mercy  to  make  me  an  unworthy  receiver,"  he  be- 
queathes: first,  to  Thomas  Packer,  Esq.,  one  of  his 
Majesty's  clerks  of  the  Privy  Seal,  "all  my  houses, 
lands,  tenantements  and  hereditaments  whatsoever, 
situate  lying  and  being  in  the  parishes  of  Louthe 
and  Great  Carleton,  in  the  county  of  Lincoln  to- 
gether with  my  coat  of  armes;"  and  charges  him 
to  pay  certain  legacies  not  exceeding  the  sum  of 
eighty  pounds,  out  of  which  he  reserves  to  himself 
twenty  pounds  to  be  disposed  of  as  he  chooses  in 
his  life-time.  The  sum  of  twenty  pounds  is  to  be 
disbursed  about  the  funeral.  To  his  most  worthy 
friend,  Sir  Samuel  Saltonstall  Knight,  he  gives  five 
pounds;  to  Morris  Treadway,  five  pounds;  to  his 
sister  Smith,  the  widow  of  his  brother,  ten  pounds; 
to  his  cousin  Steven  Smith,  and  his  sister,  six 
pounds,  thirteen  shillings  and  fourpence  between 
them;  to  Thomas  Packer,  Joane,  his  wife,  and 
Eleanor,  his  daughter,  ten  pounds  among  them;  to 
"Mr.  Reynolds,  the  lay  M""  of  the  Goldsmiths  Hall, 
the  sum  of  forty  shillings;"  to  Thomas,  the  son  of 
said  Thomas  Packer,  "my  trunk  standing  in  my 
chamber  at  Sr  Samuel  Saltonstall's  house  in  St. 
Sepulcher's  parish,  together  with  my  best  suit  of 
apparel    of  a  tawny  color  viz  hose,  doublet  jirkin 


292  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [^t.  52 

and  cloak/'  "also,  my  trunk  bound  with  iron  bars 
standing  in  the  house  of  Richard  Hinde  in  Lam- 
beth, together  with  half  the  books  therein;"  the 
other  half  of  the  books  to  Mr.  John  Tredeskin  and 
Richard  Hinde.  His  much  honored  friend,  Sir 
Samuel  Saltonstall,  and  Thomas  Packer,  were  joint 
executors,  and  the  will  was  acknowledged  in  the 
presence  "of  Willmii  Keble  Sn""  civitas,  London, 
William  Packer,  Elizabeth  Sewster,  Marmaduke 
Walker,  his  mark,  witness." 

We  have  no  idea  that  Thomas  Packer  got  rich 
out  of  the  houses,  lands  and  tenements  in  the 
county  of  Lincoln.  The  will  is  that  of  a  poor  man, 
and  reference  to  his  trunks  standing  about  in  the 
"houses  of  his  friends,  and  to  his  chamber  in  the 
house  of  Sir  Samuel  Saltonstall,  may  be  taken  as 
proof  that  he  had  no  independent  and  permanent 
abiding-place. 

It  is  supposed  that  he  was  buried  in  St.  Sepul- 
cher's  Church.  The  negative  evidence  of  this  is 
his  residence  in  the  parish  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  the  more  positive,  a  record  in  Stow's  "  Survey 
of  London,"  1633,  which  we  copy  in  full: 

This  Table  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  Quire  in  Saint  Sepul- 
chers, 

with  this  Inscription. 

To  the  living  Memory  of  his  deceased  Friend,  Captaine  John 
Smith,  who  departed  this  mortall  life  on  the  2i  day  of  June, 
1631,  with  his  Armes,  and  this  Motto, 

Accordamus,  vincere  est  vivere. 

Here  lies  one  conquer'd 

that  hath  conquer'd  Kings, 
Subdu'd  large  Territories, 

and  done  things 


i63i]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  293 

Which  to  the  World 

impossible  would  seeme, 
But  that  the  truth 

is  held  in  more  esteeme, 
Shall  I  report 

His  former  service  done 
In  honour  of  his  God 
and  Christendome: 
How  that  he  did 

divide  from  Pagans  three, 
Their  heads  and  Lives, 

types  of  his  chivalry: 
For  which  great  service 

in  that  Climate  done, 
Brave  Sigisimindus 

(King  of  Hiingarion) 
Did  give  him  as  a  Coat 

of  Armes  to  weare, 
Those  conquer'd  heads 

got  by  his  Sword  and  Speare  ? 
Or  shall  I  tell 

of  his  adventures  since, 
Done  in  Virginia, 

that  large  Continence: 
How  that  he  subdu'd 

Kings  unto  his  yoke, 
And  made  those  heathen  flie, 

as  wind  doth  smoke: 
And  made  their  Land, 

being  of  so  large  a  Station, 
A  habitation 

for  our  Christian  Nation: 
Where  God  is  glorifi'd, 

their  wants  suppli'd, 
Which  else  for  necessaries 

might  have  di'd? 
But  what  avails  his  Conquest, 

now  he  lyes 
Inter'd  in  earth 

a  prey  for  Wormes  &  Flies  ? 
O  may  his  soule 


294  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH,  [iEt.  52 

in  sweet  Elizium  sleepe, 
Untill  the  Keeper 

that  all  soules  doth  keepe, 
Returne  to  judgement, 

and  that  after  thence, 
With  Angels  he  may  have 

his  recompence. 

Caplaine  John   Sfnith,  sometime  Governour  of  Virginia,   and 
Admirall  of  New  England. 

This  remarkable  epitaph  is  such  an  autobio 
graphical  record  as  Smith  might  have  written  him- 
self. That  it  was  engraved  upon  a  tablet  and  set 
up  in  this  church  rests  entirely  upon  the  authority 
of  Stow.  The  present  pilgrim  to  the  old  church 
will  find  no  memorial  that  Smith  was  buried  there, 
and  will  encounter  besides  incredulity  of  the  tradi- 
tion that  he  ever  rested  there. 

The  old  church  of  St.  Sepulcher's,  formerly  at  the 
confluence  of  Snow  Hill  and  the  Old  Bailey,  now 
lifts  its  head  far  above  the  pompous  viaduct  which 
spans  the  valley  along  which  the  Fleet  Ditch  once 
flowed.  All  the  registers  of  burial  in  the  church 
were  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  1666,  which  burnt 
down  the  edifice  from  floor  to  roof,  leaving  only  the 
walls  and  tower  standing.  Mr.  Charles  Deane, 
whose  lively  interest  in  Smith  led  him  recently  to 
pay  a  visit  to  St.  Sepulcher's,  speaks  of  it  as  the 
church  "  under  the  pavement  of  which  the  remains 
of  our  hero  were  buried;  but  he  was  not  able  to  see 
the  stone  placed  over  those  remains,  as  the  floor  of 
the  church  at  that  time  was  covered  with  a  carpet. 
.  .  .  The  epitaph  to  his  memory,  however,  it  is 
understood,  cannot  now  be  deciphered  upon  the 
tablet," — which  he  supposes  to  be  the  one  in  Stow. 

The  existing  tablet  is  a  slab  of  bluish-black  mar- 


1631]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  295 

ble,  which  formerly  was  in  the  chancel.  That  it  in 
no  way  relates  to  Capt.  Smith  a  near  examination 
of  it  shows.  This  slab  has  an  escutcheon  which  in- 
dicates three  heads,  which  a  lively  imagination  may 
conceive  to  be  those  of  Moors,  on  a  line  in  the  up- 
per left  corner  on  the  husband's  side  of  a  shield, 
which  is  divided  by  a  perpendicular  line.  As  Smith 
had  no  wife,  this  could  not  have  been  his  cogni- 
zance. Nor  are  these  his  arms,  which  were  three 
Turks'  heads  borne  over  and  beneath  a  chevron. 
The  cognizance  of  "  Moors'  heads,"  as  we  have  said, 
was  not  singular  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  there  ex- 
isted recently  in  this  very  church  another  tomb 
which  bore  a  Moor'-s  head  as  a  family  badge.  The 
inscription  itself  is  in  a  style  of  lettering  unlike  that 
used  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  and  the  letters  are  be- 
lieved not  to  belong  to  an  earlier  period  than  that 
of  the  Georges.  This  bluish-black  stone  has  been 
recently  gazed  at  by  many  pilgrims  from  this  side 
of  the  ocean,  with  something  of  the  feeling  with 
which  the  Moslems  regard  the  Kaaba  at  Mecca. 
This  veneration  is  misplaced,  for  upon  the  stone 
are  distinctly  visible  these  words: 

"  Departed  this  life  September  .... 

Sixty-six  ....  years 

months  . . . ." 

As  John  Smith  died  in  June,  1631,  in  his  fifty-sec- 
ond year,  this  stone  is  clearly  not  in  his  honor:  and 
if  his  dust  rests  in  this  church,  the  fire  of  1666  made 
it  probably  a  labor  of  wasted  love  to  look  here- 
abouts for  any  monument  of  him. 

A  few  years  ago  some  American  antiquarians 
desired  to  place  some  monument  to  the  "Admiral 
of  New  England"  in  this  church,  and  a  memorial 


296  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  52 

window,  commemorating  the  **  Baptism  of  Poca- 
hontas," was  suggested.  We  have  been  told,  how- 
ever, that  a  custom  of  St.  Sepulcher's  requires  a 
handsome  bonus  to  the  rector  for  any  memorial  set 
up  in  the  church,  which  the  kindly  incumbent  had 
no  power  to  set  aside  (in  his  own  case)  for  a  foreign 
gift  and  act  of  international  courtesy  of  this  sort; 
and  the  project  was  abandoned. 

Nearly  every  trace  of  this  insatiable  explorer  of 
the  earth  has  disappeared  from  it  except  in  his  own 
writings.  The  only  monument  to  his  memory  exist- 
ing is  a  shabby  little  marble  shaft  erected  on  the 
southerly  summit  of  Star  Island,  one  of  the  Isles 
of  Shoals.  By  a  kind  of  irony  of  fortune,  which 
Smith  would  have  grimly  appreciated,  the  only 
stone  to  perpetuate  his  fame  stands  upon  a  little 
heap  of  rocks  in  the  sea;  upon  which  it  is  only  an 
inference  that  he  ever  set  foot;  and  we  can  almost 
hear  him  say  again,  looking  round  upon  this  roomy 
earth,  so  much  of  which  he  possessed  in  his  mind, 
"  No  lot  for  me  but  Smith's  Isles,  which  are  an  array 
of  barren  rocks,  the  most  overgrowne  with  shrubs 
and  sharpe  whins  you  can  hardly  passe  them:  with- 
out either  grasse  or  wood  but  three  or  foure  short 
shrubby  old  cedars."- 

Nearly  all  of  Smith's  biographers  and  the  his- 
torians of  Virginia  have,  with  great  respect,  woven 
his  romances  about  his  career  into  their  narratives, 
imparting  to  their  paraphrases  of  his  story  such  an 
elevation  as  his  own  opinion  of  himself  seemed  to 
demand.  Of  contemporary  estimate  of  him  there 
is  little  to  quote  except  the  panegyrics  in  verse  he 
has  preserved  for  us,  and  the  inference  from  his 
own  writings  that  he  was  the  object  of  calumny 
and    detraction.      Enemies  he  had   in   plenty,   but 


i63i]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  297 

there  are  no  records  left  of  their  opinion  of  his 
character.  The  nearest  biographical  notice  of  him 
in  point  of  time  is  found  in  the  "  History  of  the 
Worthies  of  England,"  by  Thomas  Fuller,  D.D., 
London,  1662. 

Old  Fuller's  school-master  was  Master  Arthur 
Smith,  a  kinsman  of  John,  who  told  him  that  John 
was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Fuller  received  from  his  teacher  some  impression 
about  the  adventurer. 

Of  his  "strange  performances"  in  Hungary  Fuller 
says:  "  The  scene  whereof  is  laid  at  such  a  distance 
that  they  are  cheaper  credited  than  confuted." 

"  From  the  Turks  in  Europe  he  passed  to  the 
pagans  in  America,  where  towards  the  latter  end 
of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  [it  was  in  the  reign 
of  James]  such  his  perils,  preservations,  dangers, 
deliverances,  they  seem  to  most  men  above  belief, 
to  some  beyond  truth.  Yet  have  we  two  witnesses 
to  attest  them,  the  prose  and  the  pictures,  both  in 
his  own  book;  and  it  soundeth  much  to  the  dimi- 
nution of  his  deeds  that  he  alone  is  the  herald  to 
publish  and  proclaim  them." 

"  Surely  such  reports  from  strangers  carry  the 
greater  reputation.  However,  moderate  men  must 
allow  Captain  Smith  to  have  been  very  instrumental 
in  settling  the  plantation  in  Virginia,  whereof  he 
was  governor,  as  also  Admiral  of  New  England." 

*'  He  led  his  old  age  in  London,  where  his  having 
a  prince's  mind  imprisoned  in  a  poor  man's  purse, 
rendered  him  to  the  contempt  of  such  as  were  not 
ingenuous.  Yet  he  efforted  his  spirits  with  the 
remembrance  and  relation  of  what  formerly  he  had 
been,  and  what  he  had  done." 

Of  the  "  ranting  epitaph,"  quoted  above.  Fuller 


298  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  52 

says:  "The  orthography,  poetry,  history  and  divin- 
ity in  this  epitaph  are  much  alike." 

Without  taking  Capt.  John  Smith  at  his  own  esti- 
mate of  himself,  he  was  a  peculiar  character  even 
for  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  He  shared  with 
his  contemporaries  the  restless  spirit  of  roving  and 
adventure  which  resulted  from  the  invention  of  the 
mariner's  compass  and  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World;  but  he  was  neither  so  sordid  nor  so  rapa- 
cious as  many  of  them,  for  his  boyhood  reading  of 
romances  had  evidently  fired  him  with  the  conceits 
of  the  past  chivalric  period.  This  imported  into 
his  conduct  something  inflated  and  something 
elevated.  And,  besides,  with  all  his  enormous  con- 
ceit, he  had  a  stratum  of  practical  good  sense,  a 
shrewd  wit,  and  the  salt  of  humor. 

If  Shakespeare  had  known  him,  as  he  might  have 
done,  he  would  have  had  a  character  ready  to  his 
hand  that  would  have  added  one  of  the  most  amusing 
and  interesting  portraits  to  his  gallery.  He  faintly 
suggests  a  moral  Falstaff,  if  we  can  imagine  a 
Falstaff  without  vices.  As  a  narrator  he  has  the 
swagger  of  a  Capt.  Dalghetty,  but  his  actions  are 
marked  by  honesty  and  sincerity.  He  appears  to 
have  had  none  of  the  small  vices  of  the  gallants  of 
his  time.  His  chivalric  attitude  toward  certain 
ladies  who  appear  in  his  adventures,  must  have 
been  sufficiently  amusing  to  his  associates.  There 
is  about  his  virtue  a  certain  antique  flavor  which 
must  have  seemed  strange  to  the  adventurers  and 
court  hangers-on  in  London.  Not  improbably  his 
assumptions  were  offensive  to  the  ungodly,  and  his 
ingenuous  boastings  made  him  the  object  of  amuse- 
ment to  the  skeptics.  Their  ridicule  would  natu- 
rally appear  to  him  to  arise  from  envy.     We  read 


1631]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  299 

between  the  lines  of  his  own  eulogies  of  himself, 
that  there  was  a  wide-spread  skepticism  about  his 
greatness  and  his  achievements,  which  he  attributed 
to  jealousy.  Perhaps  his  obtrusive  virtues  made 
him  enemies,  and  his  rectitude  was  a  standing 
offense  to  his  associates. 

It  is  certain  he  got  on  well  with  scarcely  any- 
body with  whom  he  was  thrown  in  his  enterprises. 
He  was  of  common  origin,  and  always  carried  with 
him  the  need  of  assertion  in  an  insecure  position. 
He  appears  to  us  always  self-conscious  and  ill  at 
ease  with  gentlemen  born.  The  captains  of  his  own 
station  resented  his  assumptions  of  superiority,  and 
while  he  did  not  try  to  win  them  by  an  affectation 
of  comradeship,  he  probably  repelled  those  of  bettef 
breeding  by  a  swaggering  manner.  No  doubt  his 
want  of  advancement  was  partly  due  to  want  of  in- 
fluence, which  better  birth  would  have  given  him: 
but  the  plain  truth  is  that  he  had  a  talent  fof 
making  himself  disagreeable  to  his  associates.  Un- 
fortunately he  never  engaged  in  any  enterprise  with 
any  one  on  earth  who  was  so  capable  of  conducting 
it  as  himself,  and  this  fact  he  always  made  plain  to 
his  comrades.  Skill  he  had  in  managing  savages, 
but  with  his  equals  among  whites  he  lacked  tact, 
and  knew  not  the  secret  of  having  his  own  way 
without  seeming  to  have  it.  He  was  insubordinate, 
impatient  of  any  authority  over  him,  and  unwilling 
to  submit  to  discipline  he  did  not  himself  impose. 

Yet  it  must  be  said  that  he  was  less  self-seeking 
that  those  who  were  with  him  in  Virginia,  making 
glory  his  aim  rather  than  gain  always;  that  he  had 
a  superior  conception  of  what  a  colony  should  be, 
and  how  it  should  establish  itself,  and  that  his 
judgment  of  what  was  best  was  nearly  always  vin- 


/. 


300  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [Nx.  52 

dicated  by  the  event.  He  was  not  the  founder  of 
the  Virginia  colony,  its  final  success  was  not  due  to 
him,  but  it  was  owing  almost  entirely  to  his  pluck 
and  energy  that  it  held  on  and  maintained  an  ex- 
istence during  the  two  years  and  a  half  that  he  was 
with  it  at  Jamestown.  And  to  effect  this  mere 
holding  on,  with  the  vagabond  crew  that  composed 
most  of  the  colony,  and  with  the  extravagant  and 
unintelligent  expectations  of  the  London  Company, 
was  a  feat  showing  decided  ability.  He  had  the 
qualities  fitting  him  to  be  an  explorer  and  the  leader 
of  an  expedition.  He  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
the  character  necessary  to  impress  his  authority  on 
a  community.  He  was  quarrelsome,  irascible,  and 
quick  to  fancy  that  his  full  value  was  not  admitted. 
He  shines  most  upon  euch  small  expeditions  as  the 
exploration  of  the  Chesapeake;  then  his  energy, 
self-confidence,  shrewdness,  inventiveness,  had  free 
play,  and  his  pluck  and  perseverance  are  recognized 
as  of  the  true  heroic  substance. 

Smith,  as  we  have  seen,  estimated  at  their  full  in- 
significance such  flummeries  as  the  coronation  of 
Powhatan,  and  the  foolishness  of  taxing  the  ener- 
gies of  the  colony  to  explore  the  country  for  gold 
and  chase  the  phantom  of  the  South  Sea.  In  his 
discernment  and  in  his  conceptions  of  what  is  now 
called  "political  economy"  he  was  in  advance  of 
his  age.  He  was  an  advocate  of  "  free  trade  "  be- 
fore the  term  was  invented.  In  his  advice  given  to 
the  New  England  plantation  in  his  "  Advertise- 
ments" he  says: 

"  Now  as  his  Majesty  has  made  you  custome- 
free  for  seven  yeares,  have  a  care  that  all  your  coun- 
trymen shall  come  to  trade  with  you.  be  not  troubled 
with  pilotage,  boyage,  ancorage,  wharfage,  custome, 


1631]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  3OI 

or  any  such  tricks  as  hath  been  lately  used  in  most 
of  our  plantations,  where  they  would  be  Kings  be- 
fore their  folly;  to  the  discouragement  of  many, 
and  a  scorne  to  them  of  understanding,  for  Dutch, 
French,  Biskin,  or  any  will  as  yet  use  freely  the 
Coast  without  controule,  and  why  not  English  as 
well  as  they  ?  Therefore  use  all  commers  with  that 
respect,  courtesie,  and  liberty  is  fitting,  which  will 
in  a  short  time  much  increase  your  trade  and  ship- 
ping to  fetch  it  from  you,  for  as  yet  it  were  not  good 
to  adventure  any  more  abroad  with  factors  till  you 
bee  better  provided;  now  there  is  nothing  more  en- 
richeth  a  Common-wealth  than  much  trade,  nor  no 
meanes  better  to  increase  than  small  custome,  as 
Holland,  Genua,  Ligorne,  as  divers  other  places  can 
well  tell  you,  and  doth  most  beggar  those  places 
where  they  take  most  custome,  as  Turkic,  the  Archi- 
pelegan  lies,  Cicilia,  the  Spanish  ports,  but  that 
their  officers  will  connive  to  enrich  themselves, 
though  undo  the  state." 

It  may  perhaps  be  admitted  that  he  knew  better 
than  the  London  or  the  Plymouth  company  what 
ought  to  be  done  in  the  New  World,  but  it  is  absurd 
to  suppose  that  his  success  or  his  ability  forfeited 
him  the  confidence  of  both  companies,  and  shut 
him  out  of  employment.  The  simple  truth  seems 
to  be  that  his  arrogance  and  conceit  and  importu- 
nity made  him  unpopular,  and  that  his  proverbial 
ill-luck  was  set  off  against  his  ability. 

Although  he  was  fully  charged  with  the  piety  of 
his  age,  and  kept  in  mind  his  humble  dependence 
on  divine  grace  when  he  was  plundering  Venetian 
argosies  or  lying  to  the  Indians,  or  fighting  any- 
where simply  for  excitement  or  booty,  and  was 
always  as  devout  as  a  modern  Sicilian  or  Greek 


302  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [.Et.  52 

robber;  he  had  a  humorous  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  the  religions  current  in  his  day.  He  saw 
through  the  hypocrisy  of  the  London  Company, 
''making  religion  their  color,  when  all  their  aim 
was  nothing  but  present  profit."  There  was  great 
talk  about  Christianizing  the  Indians;  but  the  colo- 
nists in  Virginia  taught  them  chiefly  the  corrup- 
tions of  civilized  life,  and  those  who  were  dispatched 
to  England  soon  became  debauched  by  London 
vices.  "  Much  they  blamed  us  [he  writes]  for  not 
converting  the  Salvages,  when  those  they  sent  us 
were  little  better,  if  not  worse,  nor  did  they  all  con- 
vert any  of  those  we  sent  them  to  England  for  that 
purpose." 

Capt.  John  Smith  died  unmarried,  nor  is  there 
any  record  that  he  ever  had  wife  or  children.  This 
disposes  of  the  claim  of  subsequent  John  Smiths  to 
be  descended  from  him.  He  was  the  last  of  that 
race;  the  others  are  imitations.  He  was  wedded  to 
glory.  That  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  charms  of 
female  beauty,  and  to  the  heavenly  pity  in  their 
hearts,  which  is  their  chief  grace,  his  writings 
abundantly  evince;  but  to  taste  the  pleasures  of 
dangerous  adventure,  to  learn  war  and  to  pick  up 
his  living  with  his  sword,  and  to  fight  wherever 
piety  showed  recompense  would  follow,  was  the 
passion  of  his  youth,  while  his  manhood  was  given 
to  the  arduous  ambition  of  enlarging  the  domains 
of  England  and  enrolling  his  name  among  those 
heroes  who  make  an  ineffaceable  impression  upon 
their  age.  There  was  no  time  in  his  life  when  he 
had  leisure  to  marry,  or  when  it  would  have  been 
consistent  with  his  schemes  to  have  tied  himself  to 
a  home. 

As  a  writer  he  was  wholly  untrained,  but  with 


1 631]  DEATH  AND   CHARACTER.  303 

all  his  introversions  and  obscurities  he  is  the  most 
readable  chronicler  of  his  time,  the  most  amusing 
and  as  untrustv/orthy  as  any.  He  is  influenced  by 
his  prejudices,  though  not  so  much  by  them  as  by 
his  imagination  and  vanity.  He  had  a  habit  of 
accurate  observation,  as  his  maps  show,  and  this 
trait  gives  to  his  statements  and  descriptions,  when 
his  own  reputation  is  not  concerned,  a  value  beyond 
that  of  those  of  most  contemporary  travelers.  And 
there  is  another  thing  to  be  said  about  his  writings. . 
They  are  uncommonly  clean  for  his  day.  Only 
here  and  there  is  coarseness  encountered.  In  an  age 
when  nastiness  was  written  as  well  as  spoken,  and 
when  most  travelers  felt  called  upon  to  satisfy  a 
curiosity  for  prurient  observations,  Smith  preserved 
a  tone  quite  remarkable  for  general  purity. 

Capt.  Smith  is  in  some  respects  a  very  good  type 
of  the  restless  adventurers  of  his  age;  but  he  had  a 
little  more  pseudo-chivalry  at  one  end  of  his  life, 
and  a  little  more  piety  at  the  other,  than  the  rest. 
There  is  a  decidedly  heroic  element  in  his  courage, 
hardihood,  and  enthusiasm,  softened  to  the  modern 
observer's  comprehension  by  the  humorous  contrast 
between  his  achievements  and  his  estimate  of  them. 
Between  his  actual  deeds  as  he  relates  them,  and 
his  noble  sentiments,  there  is  also  sometimes  a  con- 
trast pleasing  to  the  worldly  mind.  He  is  just 
one  of  those  characters  who  would  be  more  agreeable 
on  the  stage  than  in  private  life.  His  extraordi- 
nary conceit  would  be  entertaining  if  one  did  not 
see  too  much  of  him.  Although  he  was  such  a 
romancer  that  we  can  accept  few  of  his  unsupported 
statements  about  himself,  there  was,  nevertheless, 
a  certain  verity  in  his  character  which  showed  some- 
thing  more   than   loyalty  to  his   own   fortune;   he 


304  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH.  [^t.  52 

could  be  faithful  to  an  ambition  for  the  public 
good.  Those  who  knew  him  best  must  have  found 
in  him  very  likable  qualities,  and  acknowledged  the 
generosities  of  his  nature,  while  they  were  amused 
at  his  humorous  spleen  and  his  serious  contempla- 
tion of  his  own  greatness.  There  is  a  kind  of  sim- 
plicity in  his  self-appreciation  that  wins  one,  and  it 
is  impossible  for  the  candid  student  of  his  career 
not  to  feel  kindly  towards  the  "  sometime  Governor 
of  Virginia  and  Admiral  of  New  England." 


THE    END. 


INDEX. 


America,   discovery  of  direct 

passage  to  continent  of,  36; 

first  book  written   in,    238; 

first    child    born,     51     [See 

New  England,  Virginia] 
Antimony  discovered,  138 
Battoris,  the,  18,  26 
Bermudas,  settlement  of,  195 
Burke,  J:,  quoted,  123 
Caniza,  12 

Caucus,  origin  of  word,  209 
Chivalric  customs  of  Turks,  21 
Conundrum,     early     use      of 

word,  244 
Dale,  Sir  T:,  224 
Dare,  Virginia,  51,  55,  56 
Deane,  C:,  his  examination  of 

Smith's  works,  loi 
De  Bry  cited,  140 
Eggleston,  E:,  cited,  15 
Fuller,  T:,  quoted,  297 
Gilbert,  Sir  H:,  39,  40 
Gosnold,  Capt.  B.,  36,  77 
Grenville,  Sir  R:,  37 
Hakluyt,  R:,  37 
Hatorask,  see  Roanoke 
Hudson,  H:,  174 
Indians,    customs,     73,     243; 

modes  of  punishment,  241; 

religion,    49,    128,  241;  ex- 


Indians  {continued.) 

perience   of    those   sent   to 
England,  229,  235 

Jamestown,  foundation  of, 
64;  community  of  goods, 
223;  difficulties  of  colonists, 
75;  Wingfield  deposed,  78; 
church  built,  89;  excite- 
ment about  gold,  93;  bad 
condition  of  colony,  139; 
women  arrive,  143;  selfish 
conduct  of  colonists,  149; 
account  of  them  in  1608, 
150;  first  marriage,  154; 
prosperity,  167,  186;  new 
settlers,  175;  their  bad  char- 
acter, 187,  224;  later  his- 
tory, 190,  223;  private  prop- 
erty introduced,  223 

Lincolnshire,  3 

London  in  Smith's  time,  249 

Massachusetts  founded  under 
different  auspices  from  Vir- 
ginia, 162 

Meldrich,  "Earl,"  19 

Mercoeur,  Duke  of,  15;  fights 
against  Henry  IV.,  6;  serves 
in  Hungary,  6,  14;  death,  17 

"  Mercury,"  Duke  of,  see 
Mercoeur 


3o6 


INDEX. 


New  England  coast  explored, 
250;  name  given  by  Smith, 
251;  his  description  of  it, 
255;  first  settlements,  276 

Newport,  Capt.,  69,  74,  86, 
129,  143 

Ortiz,  J.,  287 

Pocahontas,  various  versions 
of  her  story,  loi;  evidence 
against  popular  account, 
III,  126;  its  want  of  orig- 
inality, 288;  Burke's  ver- 
sion, 123;  Smith's  account, 
231,  265,  285; — welcomes 
Smith,  145;  warns  him, 
158;  proposed  marriage  to 
him,  iSg;  is  kidnapped, 
211;  marriage  to  Rolfe, 
215;  its  importance,  216; 
goes  to  England,  228;  is 
entertained  there,  230,  235; 
interview  with  Smith,  234; 
death,  237;  descendants, 
238-g;  fame,  246;  charac- 
ter, 200,  244;  dress,  206; 
meaning  of  name,  207 

Powhatan,  67,  155,  244;  court, 
130;  coronation,  146;  en- 
mity to  whites,  159;  decoys 
them,  182;  refuses  his  second 
daughter,  227;  death,  239 

Profanity,  Smith's  cure  for,  148 

Raleigh,  Sir  W.,  does  not  go 
to  Virginia,  39;  or  to  New- 
foundland, 41;  first  expedi- 
tion, 39     [See  Roanoke] 

Roanoke  settlement,  41,42,44, 
45.  50,  51,  170;  theories  of 
the  disappearance,  53 


Rolfe,  J:,  217;.  reasons  for 
marrying  Pocahontas,  218; 
alleged  treason  in  doing  so, 
236;  last  years,  238 

Sandys,  G:,   238 

Sigismund,  see  Battori 

Smith,  Captain  J:,  task  im- 
posed on  his  biographer,  iii; 
character  of  previous  works 
on,  iii;  of  the  present,  iv; 
new  evidence,  iii;  his  own 
account  of  himself,  iv,  v,  i, 
2,  115,  183;  the  "True  Re- 
lation," lOI 

birth,     2;     ancestry,    3; 

early  years,  4;  in  France, 
5;  in  Low  Countries,  6; 
in  Scotland,  6;  eccentric 
life  at  home,  7;  again  in  Low 
Countries,  8;  enticed  to 
France,  8;  poverty,  8;  ad- 
ventures, 9;  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, 9,  10;  in  Italy,  11; 
fights  the  Turks  in  Hungary, 
12;  importance  of  his  servi- 
ces, 13;  in  Transylvania,  20; 
single  combat  with  Turkish 
champions,  22;  inWallachia, 
27;  taken  prisoner,  28;  life 
as  slave,  29-31;  escapes,  32; 
in  Spain  and  Morocco,  32; 
in  England,  33;  sails  for  Vir- 
ginia, is  imprisoned,  60;  be- 
comes member  of  council, 
72;  indicted  but  saved,  86; 
Chicahominy  expedition, 
103;  explores  Chesapeake, 
135;  —  Potomac,  137;  be- 
comes president,   143;   sue- 


INDEX. 


307 


Smith,  Captain  J.  {continued) 
cess  against  Powhatan,  161; 
prowess  in  single  combat, 
164;  accident,  178;  resigns, 
183;  opinions  of  him,  185; 
charges,  188;  letter  to  the 
queen,  231;  disgrace  and 
friends,  248;  offers  his  ser- 
vices to  Plymouth  Company, 
250;  sails  for  New  England, 
251;  engages  in  whale-fishe- 
ry, 252;  adventures  with  pi- 
rates, 259;  escape,  261;  pov- 
erty, 289;  burial,  292;  mon- 
ument, 295;  character,  298 

his  arms,  25,  288;  capa- 
city and  enterprise,  87,  95, 
163;  foresight,  255;  advo- 
cates free-trade,  300;  way  of 
dealing  with  Indians,  134; 
dexterity  in  trade,  131;  not 
more  adventurer  than  Amer- 
icans of  our  day,  8;  not  the 
first  adventurer  saved  by  a 
woman,  287;  his  invention 
of  signals,  12,  287;  of  "fiery 
dragons,"  15;  other  inven- 
tions, 27;  his  writings,  252, 
272,  278  seq. ;  list  of  these,  v; 
the  first  of  "American  hu- 
morists," 191;  his  maps,  251 


Somerset,  Sir  G:,  195,  199 

Spelman,  H:,  175,  179;  his 
journal,  180 

Strachey.  W:,  202;  publica- 
tion of  his  journal,  204 

Susquehannocks,  140 

Tobacco,  introduction  of,  45; 
progress  in  the  East,  47; 
medicinal  qualities,  48 

Transylvania  in  17th  century, 
18,  26 

Turks,  their  successes  in  Eu- 
rope, 12 

Virginia,  early  attempts  at 
settlement,  37;  founded  un- 
der different  auspices  than 
Massachusetts,  162;  charter, 
38;  first  expedition,  58; 
want  of  harmony,  60;  ex- 
ploration, 65;  intercourse 
with  natives,  67;  the  cross 
planted  with  a  lie,  69;  new 
charter,  172;  code,  203;  char- 
ter revoked,  275  [See  James- 
town, Roanoke] 

Wallachia  in  17th  century, 
27 

Willoughby,  Eng.,  3,  4 

Wingfield,  Capt.,  64,  78,   90 

Women,  savage,  devotion  of, 
158 


COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY    LIBRARIES 


This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the    ! 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
provided  by  the  library  rules  or  by  special  arrangement  with 
the  Librarian  in  charge.                                                                     i 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE   DUE 

DATE   BORROWED 

DATE   DUE 

^f^fit-T            m. 

"575    V/^f) 

^        i.   CL     I. 

w 

C28(546)M25 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


0315021777 


